一塊地 Piece of Land

In Facebook, you can report a fake profile, offensive photos, and abusive groups or pages. More than that, when the 'like' buttoms are everywhere in your friend's page,  there are 'report' buttoms everywhere in Facebook groups and pages. Once you send out a report, Facebook will evaluate if there is a violation against its terms and conditions and then delete the item for you. This process is based on the company's own judgement: offensive, abusive, obscene, etc.   

 

People start to question whether they are being censored by Facebook; up to date there are a number of 396 Facebook groups related to  'Facebook censorship'. Social networking site are a double sword. On the one hand it provides users around the world with a platform to (re)connect and share, on the other hand the open environment involves with a high level of noises. Internet censorship is therefore applied owing to the request from government, interest groups, and stake holders. When Facebook gradually becomes an influential media in our time, self-censorship is a way to protect its business operation, which contradicts its purpose for a “more open and connected world. In his article of “Evasion Tactics,” Nart Villeneuve points out how internet control can challenge people’s freedom of express:   

“Internet surveillance technologies are routinely deployed in order to monitor and track online communications. All countries use varying degrees of these to implement control, generating fear among Internet users and contributing to a climate of self-censorship that is creating alarming challenges to freedom of expression online. The legal basis for technical filtering is murky and rarely explicit, and can vary significantly from country to country.”

Undeniable, Facebook’s news/live feed have already served as a RSS for many users who don’t limit themselves in passively receiving the stream; instead, they actively discuss and share their feelings and thoughts. Facebook successfully transforms itself into a global online society with various voices. And more than creating ‘like’ buttons for users, Facebook has to face the responsibility to create ‘report’ buttons in order to ensure the society a safe environment.

Nevertheless, why information among friends or groups needed to be censored by a third party? Should Facebook be the gatekeeper for our communication and information retrievals?