Analysis: Facebook confronts human rights dilemma on political speech

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Facebook Inc (FB.O) oversight board's extension of former U.S. President Donald Trump's banishment from the social network failed to settle how it will balance political leaders' freedom of speech and its responsibility to make sure hateful rhetoric does not incite violence.

oversight board’s extension of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s banishment from the social network failed to settle how it will balance political leaders’ freedom of speech and its responsibility to make sure hateful rhetoric does not incite violence.upheld Trump’s suspension from Facebook

"Facebook has become a virtually indispensable medium for political discourse," the board said in its Wednesday ruling. "It has a responsibility both to allow political expression and to avoid serious risks to other human rights." The board concluded that Trump "used the communicative authority of the presidency in support of attackers," and his violation of Facebook's policies against glorifying violence was "severe in terms of its human rights harms." It did not exercise its authority to tell Facebook it must ban Trump permanently.

Many civil society advocates say the company is too ready to silence political dissent and has no toolkit for dealing with the many ways authoritarian governments are manipulating its services, which also include Instagram and WhatsApp. United Nations conventions, which establish a widely respected though voluntary framework for international human rights law, hold that freedom of expression is a bedrock right, and thus people should not be subject to arbitrary muzzling by Facebook. The company committed to upholding such human rights in a corporate policy unveiled in March that includes annual follow-up reports.

 

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What human rights dilemma? Spread destructive lies and break ToS... Get booted. Simple. Politicians aren't above the rules.

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