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Live video censorship: Is Facebook a neutral judge?

Live video censorship: Is Facebook a neutral judge?

Censorship may be a required facet of the internet. But what it should not do is curb some one's freedom of speech. But this is exactly what Facebook has done by deleting a few atheist pages from Middle East and North Africa and once again after Philando Castile’s death in a Dallas shootout in the US on Wednesday.  

 

A video which showed how Philando Castile, a 32-year-old black man was shot dead by a cop during a routine traffic stop, has generated a huge amount of outrage in America. However the video, shot by his girlfriend in the passenger's seat, was later taken down by Facebook. 

 

The video on the Facebook showed a 'technical glitch' and could not be played. Other theories, however, suggest that the video was deleted by the cops as the phone it was shot on was confiscated. Another possibility suggested was that the high number of 'violent content' reports against the video caused it to be pulled down automatically. 

 

The social media major did not comment on the issue, but if it was involved in the taking down of the video, it is clear that the company is curbing citizen journalism. 

  

"The rules for live video are the same for all the rest of our content. A reviewer can interrupt a live stream if there is a violation of our Community Standards. Anyone can report content to us if they think it goes against our standards, and it only takes one report for something to be reviewed," said a Facebook press release.

 

Here are some major points from Facebook's community standards: 

 

1.      We remove content, disable accounts, and work with law enforcement when we believe there is a genuine risk of physical harm or direct threats to public safety.

2.      To help balance the needs, safety, and interests of a diverse community, however, we may remove certain kinds of sensitive content or limit the audience that sees it. Learn          more about how we do that here. 

3.      By joining Facebook, you agree to use your authentic name and identity. You may not publish the personal information of others without their consent.

4.      You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it is shared through your privacy and application settings. However, before sharing          content on Facebook, please be sure you have the right to do so.

 

With the ever increasing control Facebook is gaining over the World Wide Web, its attempts to push its policies down users' throat may end up curbing our free speech. 

 

Since Facebook is the most widely used social platform across the globe, a neutral form of censorship is the call of the day, which Facebook seem to have completely neglected.   

 

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