a norwegian newspaper calls facebook out on its bullsquirt… long live norway !!!
Dear Mark Zuckerberg.
I follow you on Facebook, but you don’t know me. I am editor-in-chief of the Norwegian daily newspaper Aftenposten. I am writing this letter to inform you that I shall not comply with your requirement to remove a documentary photography from the Vietnam war made by Nick Ut.
Not today, and not in the future.
The demand that we remove the picture came in an e-mail from Facebook’s office in Hamburg this Wednesday morning. Less than 24 hours after the e-mail was sent, and before I had time to give my response, you intervened yourselves and deleted the article as well as the image from Aftenposten’s Facebook page.
Source: http://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/kommentar/Dear-Mark-I-am-writing-this-to-inform-you-that-I-shall-not-comply-with-your-requirement-to-remove-this-picture-604156b.html
The article is long… but I suggest you read it…
As a writer, I do not use Facebook because I know they will eventually censor me for one reason or another and *poof* all of my hard work will be deleted in a single moment of clickity clacks by a Facebook employee. So from my perspective, I already live with the silly consequences of Facebook’s policies… and it is frustrating in the extreme.
As a photographer, Facebook censoring a photograph that has made the brutality of war clear to so many people… is disgusting. It’s contrary to the very nature of that piece of art (openness and truth).
And frankly I feel that Facebook has been behaving like a snotty little shit of a bureaucrat when it comes to its users and what they choose to share with each other. Facebook has displayed no care, no remorse, no changing of their poor behavior. They merely continue to offer excuses and nonsense.
Anyways… I should probably let Aftenposten do the talking since it is their letter…
Facebook’s Response
What do you want to bet that Facebook’s response will undoubtedly be a bunch of bureaucratic bullsquirt about “doing better“, “implementing new policies“, “algorithm changes“.
Honestly I feel that Facebook, and really all large companies, say things like that constantly… but nothing ever changes. They merely continue their poor behavior while mouthing off about all the ‘good’ things they do. So I’m not going to hold my breath.
You and I both know Facebook will not stop it’s overly censorious bullsquirt because of some minor negative publicity…
Read More on Facebook’s Censorship
Another Unfortunate Example Of Facebook Silencing Important Videos
Facebook Still Deleting Non-Offensive Posts For Being Offensive
Facebook Is Flagging/Banning Accounts For Posting An Admittedly Strange Children’s Book Illustration
Update (9/09/2016) – Facebook’s Actual Response
We will also adjust our review mechanisms to permit sharing of the image going forward. It will take some time to adjust these systems but the photo should be available for sharing in the coming days. We are always looking to improve our policies to make sure they both promote free expression and keep our community safe, and we will be engaging with publishers and other members of our global community on these important questions going forward.
Source: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/09/facebook-napalm-girl-photo-censorship-norway/
Wow.
Who could’ve seen that coming.
Don’t worry everybody! Facebook won’t arbitrarily censor people’s speech anymore! They’re going to “engage“!
Update (9/09/2016) – The False Drama of News Headlines
“Mark Zuckerberg Has Been Blasted Over Facebook’s Censorship of the ‘Napalm Girl’ Photo” – TIME
HE WAS BLASTED MAN!!! BLASTED!!! THIS IS WAR!!! THIS IS SPARTA!!!
“Facebook Slapped For Censoring Napalm Girl Vietnam War Photo” – Daily Caller
Oh snap!!! Slapped! SLAPPED!
“Zuckerberg under fire: ‘Facebook wrong to censor famous Vietnam pic of napalm child‘” – ZDNet
War metaphors never get old???
“Norway declares war on Facebook: PM and newspapers unite to attack Zuckerberg ‘censorship‘” – Express.co.uk
ITS WARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
“Zuckerberg under fire after Facebook deletes ‘napalm girl’ picture” – Metro
War.
“Napalm Girl Ban: Mark Zuckerberg Declares SJW War On Norway” – Breitbart News
War!!! But now with 500% more alt-right flavor!!!
“Facebook’s row over Vietnam photo shows how Mark Zuckerberg has become a media tycoon by stealth” – Telegraph.co.uk
The conspiracy headline… classic!
“Facebook flayed for censoring ‘Napalm Girl’ picture” – Bangkok Post
FLAYED……… FLAYED…… okay then…
Old media in the modern world is absolutely ridiculous. I do not know why the constant onslaught of overly dramatic, verbose, and childish headlines are acceptable to people.
* corrected some typos / wording after posting (9/09/2016)