On Lennon's Birthday-World Speakout Stop Political Censorship By Zuckerberberg/Facebook

Facebook Censors Refugee Photographs
https://wp.nyu.edu/howtoseetheworld/2015/09/01/auto-draft-78/
Visual Activism in an Uncertain World


SEP 01 2015

by
Nicholas D Mirzoeff
FACEBOOK CENSORS REFUGEE PHOTOGRAPHS
POSTED IN CENSORSHIP, FACEBOOK, REFUGEES
On August 28, 2015, a boat filled with Palestinian and Syrian refugees sank off the coast of Libya. As many as 150 were drowned. On August 29, Syrian artist Khaled Barakeh posted an album of seven photographs to Facebook, entitled Multicultural Graveyard. Six photographs showed drowned children and youths from the shipwreck, while one depicted a pile of orange body bags. He did not indicate their source.

The photographs are elegiac, mournful and devastating. They were shared over 100,000 times, reaching me on August 30 via an Indian friend living in the U.K. I was moved to write a blog post “The Drowned and the Sacred” that has been read and shared thousands of times.

However, on August 31 many of the Facebook community, who had shared and discussed the photographs and my post, noticed that the link to Barakeh’s album had disappeared from their timelines and activity logs, including myself. In the screenshots below, I have obscured names other than my own and Barakeh’s because, even though these were public posts, this seems right: I am happy to undelete on request. Here’s a typical thread (below):

I confirmed with the artist that his album had been deleted by the app. None of us received any notification or explanation from Facebook as to why they had all been deleted, as this thread (below) indicates:



It is the case that in some threads, a few commenters had questioned why the photographs were being shown (see below).



Far more comments, however, expressed gratitude at being able to view them, while being shocked and saddened at their content. And even more were shocked at their censorship (below):



No messages were received to explain the removals. Facebook’s posted standards explain only: “We remove graphic images when they are shared for sadistic pleasure or to celebrate or glorify violence.” In this case, the images are graphic only insofar as we know that they depict death. No injury or blood is visible, nor are the bodies exposed in ways that might be found “graphic.” Certainly, there can be no question of sadism, glorifying or celebrating violence.

Barakeh is a well-known and widely exhibited artist. There is no justification in Facebook’s own rubric for this arbitrary and unexplained action. It was applied inconsistently and some have since reported that the photographs have been restored, following extensive outrage on Facebook itself and Twitter.

Here Facebook has often done more harm than good. In restoring a screen shot of the album to Barakeh’s timeline, the title of the album, Multicultural Graveyard, has been deleted. That title indicates that the intent of the image sharing was to provoke reflection on what has happened to multiculturalism, as well as a mourning for the tragedy of lost young lives. Without it, a viewer might have more reason for concern.

In recent days, people have also seen posts on Australian refugee camps, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and Johannesburg street art disappear. What is Facebook doing? Is it a cock-up or a conspiracy? Either way, we should be concerned.

Adrian Chen reported last year that Filipina/o workers are paid about $300 a month to delete content that they find inappropriate for “companies like Facebook and Twitter.” Facebook wouldn’t share anything more with him about how this happens. But if he’s right, what’s happening here is not a tweak of the algorithm but a low-paid, albeit often highly skilled, tech drone swiping left.

These are the categories Chen says are used to delete posts at Whisper: “pornography, gore, minors, sexual solicitation, sexual body parts/images, racism.” So my guess is that the simple depiction of three children, whose torsos (not genitalia) were partly exposed led to a quick decision to remove the photographs.

With close to one billion users, Facebook is, like it or not, the public square in this fraught moment of globalization. In particular, it is being used extensively by refugees themselves and by those seeking to help them. We now need to find ways to hold them to appropriate standards for this vital resource and to agitate to make sure such censorship is not happening elsewhere.

Facebook Helps Block And Censor North Dakota National Guard Attack On Native American Protesters
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Military-Style-Raid-Ends-Native-Prayer-Against-Dakota-Pipeline-20160928-0029.html
Military-Style Raid Ends Native Prayer Against Dakota Pipeline

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North Dakota authorities using heavy handed tactics on Water Protectors. | Photo: Facebook / Sacred Stone Camp, Rob Wilson Photography

Published 28 September 2016

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North Dakota police with military-style equipment surrounded Native Americans gathered in prayer against the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline on Wednesday, disrupting their plan to cross sacred and treaty-protected land in protest of a project they fear will destroy their livelihood.

OPINION:
The Vicious Dogs of Manifest Destiny Resurface in North Dakota

“ND authorities deploy armed personnel with shotguns and assault rifles, military vehicles, and aerial spray on peaceful Water Protectors gathered in prayer,” wrote the Sacred Stone Camp, in a Facebook post.

Officers with military-style armored vehicles and shotguns threatened the protesters, who call themselves “water protectors” for defending the Missouri River from imminent pollution, reported Unicorn Riot. Up to 21 were arrested, the channel reported.

Witnesses filmed the crackdown but said their access their Facebook was blocked. One participant, Thomas H. Joseph II, posted a chilling video narrating the mobilization and his getaway. Helicopters are heard as he says that tear gas is being dropped, and an officer loads his gun as protesters, some on horseback, chant, "We have no guns."

In the video, Joseph said that “one guy’s about ready to blast us” but later added that no fires were shot.

“We gathered in prayer un-armed, prayed, sang songs, and attempted to leave," he later wrote in a Facebook post. "No threats, No vandalism, No violence was taken on our part.”

Police and private security personnel have been more aggressively cracking down on actions against the pipeline since the governor declared a state of emergency. The state is currently investigating an incident in which contracted private security film Frost Kennels unleashed dogs during a nonviolent direct action, ending with six bitten, including a pregnant woman and a child, according to organizers at the action.

Alternative media outlet Unicorn Riot previously accused Facebook of censoring its livestream of police repression, saying they received a popup security alert when they tried to post the video.

“We will not let them stop our mission to amplify the voices of people who might otherwise go unheard, and broadcast the stories that might otherwise go untold,“ they told RT.

The pipeline, expected to transport over half a million barrels of oil a day through four states, has united over 300 tribes in resistance. Several lawsuits are pending against the company, which has retaliated with restraining orders. The White House halted construction on federal land, which makes up three percent of the pipeline's path, but has not issued any other statement against the pipeline—motivating Facebook users to demand a response after Wednesday's crackdown.

President Barack Obama met with tribal representatives on Monday but only made an indirect reference to the historic native gathering: “I know that many of you have come together across tribes and across the country to support the community at Standing Rock,“ he said. “And together, you’re making your voices heard.“

A prior version of this article described the Sacred Stone Camp as the main tribal-led camp. This is not correct. The Oceti Sakowin is the main tribal-led camp.

This article was first published Sept. 28. Updated Sept. 28, 2016 at 8:24 p.m.

Evidence of Feared Israel-Led Censorship as Facebook Bans Palestinian Editors
'We believe this is the result of the agreement between Israel and Facebook,' said one editor
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/09/23/evidence-feared-israel-led-censorship-facebook-bans-palestinian-editors
Friday, September 23, 2016
byCommon Dreams
Evidence of Feared Israel-Led Censorship as Facebook Bans Palestinian Editors
'We believe this is the result of the agreement between Israel and Facebook,' said one editor
by Nika Knight, staff writer


"Many who pretend to believe in free expression won't care, because it's Palestinians, but this is a huge threat," Glenn Greenwald tweeted. (Photo: Spencer E. Holtaway/flickr/cc)
Facebook on Friday disabled the accounts of multiple editors of two of the most widely read online Palestinian publications, The Electronic Intifada reports, fulfilling what civil liberties advocates had feared when news emerged earlier this month that the popular social media site would collaborate with the Israeli government to censor users.

"There has been no given reason for closing the accounts," Quds' Ezz al-Din al-Akhras toldThe Electronic Intifada. "We believe this is the result of the agreement between Israel and Facebook. It is very strange that Facebook would take part in such an agreement, given that it is supposed to be a platform for free expression and journalism."

"The joint Facebook-Israel censorship efforts, needless to say, will be directed at Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians who oppose Israeli occupation," the journalist Glenn Greenwald predicted when the censorship partnership was first reported.

The Electronic Intifada writes that seven editors in total attempted to log on to Facebook Friday, only to discover their accounts had been shut down:

Ezz al-Din al-Akhras, a supervisor at Quds, told The Electronic Intifada that at around 2pm, three of the publication's editors found their accounts disabled.

The same thing has happened to five editors at Shehab News Agency, a news editor for that publication told The Electronic Intifada.

One banned editor shared a screenshot of the message that appeared on his screen when he attempted to log on:


(Photo: Quds via The Electronic Intifada)

The Facebook pages for Quds and Shehab, the two targeted publications, are still functioning for now because several remaining editors still have active Facebook accounts, according to The Electronic Intifada.

Al-Akhras told the Palestinian-focused news site that he felt particularly dismayed to be the victim of censorship from Facebook, as Quds initially began as only a Facebook page: "We learned what journalism and freedom of expression are using Facebook," al-Akhras said.

Indeed, the social media site's sudden crackdown on Palestinian speech is a "huge threat," Greenwald warned Friday:


The Facebook-Israel partnership "underscores the severe dangers of having our public discourse overtaken, regulated, and controlled by a tiny number of unaccountable tech giants," Greenwald wrote earlier this month.

Facebook Censors Beating Of French Sorbonne University Professor Guillaume Vadot "Facebook subsequently censored the post, but the entire description of events can be found on Mediapart’s website."
http://www.leftvoice.org/Sorbonne-Professor-Attacked-by-Police
PARIS, FRANCE
Sorbonne Professor Attacked by Police
News of a brutal police attack in Paris against Sorbonne University professor Guillaume Vadot went viral last Friday after his colleague Guillaume Mazeau posted a statement on Facebook.
Marisela Trevin
September 29, 2016


Photo: Révolution Permanente

“I’m going to rape you, then we’ll see if you keep filming the police.”

News of a brutal police attack in Paris against Sorbonne University professor Guillaume Vadot went viral last Friday after his colleague Guillaume Mazeau posted a statement on Facebook. Vadot, a 28-year-old professor and researcher at Sorbonne University, has since broken anonymity to draw attention to increasing violence perpetrated by police in recent months.

“I believe what happened is common. What’s not common is that it happened to me.”

Facebook subsequently censored the post, but the entire description of events can be found on Mediapart’s website. According to Mazeau, on Thursday at about 8 pm, Vadot was exiting the RER D-train on his way home after a meeting when he saw a woman of color in handcuffs, crying out in pain as she was pressed against a wall by police officers who had detained her because she did not have a ticket. Vadot began to film the intervention with his phone—this had become an automatic response after having participated in several protests against the labor reform as a member of the Courant Communiste Révolutionnaire (Revolutionary Communist Current) of the NPA (New Anticapitalist Party).

After less than a minute of filming the scene, Vadot was approached by two police officers who took him aside, snatched the phone from him and pinned him against the wall. The police threatened him repeatedly: “I’ll kill you right there, on the spot, in ten minutes…We’re going to rape you. Do you like that? I’m going to rape you and then we’ll see if you continue to film the police.”

One of the officers groped Vadot. Anti-gay slurs and ISIS references were thrown at him: “Do you support ISIS? Is that it? What are you going to do when they come here? Suck them off?” Afterwards, having seen his university identification card, they sneered, “You’re a professor? When the Islamic State comes to the Sorbonne, are you going to watch them while you jerk off?”

Later, Vadot realized that the police mentioned ISIS to justify their abuse of the woman who had forgotten her train pass. A taser gun was eventually was fired at the professor, with continued threats: “We’re going to go to the Sorbonne and we’re going to exterminate you and your colleagues, you dirty leftist.” They carefully deleted the videos on the phone before leaving, but Vadot managed to recover the footage. The video however does not contain the threats or acts of violence to him, as the camera had already been turned off by police.

“We can’t keep letting this happen”

On Friday, the testimony of this incident had been shared so many times in social media that the Minister of Interior contacted Guillaume Mazeau to persuade his colleague to file a report with the General Inspector of the national police force, “the police of police.” Vadot eventually decided to bring the case before the Human Rights Defender and to file a report for abuse of power, willful acts of violence, sexual assault, rape threats and injuries.

This was announced in a press conference offered by Vadot last Monday, which was followed live on Twitter and attended by reporters from France Info, France Inter, Europe 1, Buzzfeed, Libération, Le Monde, Médiapart, Konbini, Tétu, Collectif Quoi ma Geule, and Révolution Permanente, a publication of which Vadot is an editorial committee member.


Press Conference, Photo: Révolution Permanente

According to Slim Ben Achour, Vadot’s attorney, these proceedings have become necessary as a result of recent events, such the death of Adama Traoré, a young black man who died in police custody near Paris in July 2016 and the union member who lost an eye during a protest against the labor reform on September 15, 2015: “These violent practices take place in total obscurity and with total impunity.”

As Vadot has mentioned several times, he not only wishes to draw attention to his own case, but primarily “to all those who are subjected to this kind of brutality within this context.” He stated that the attack perpetrated against him is “the result of the laws and regulations put in place in the past few months,” which have given the police a sense of impunity. He goes on to say, “We cannot consider this to be normal,” and above all, “we are not going to get used to it.”