Yesterday I shared how I had deleted my Facebook account. It turned out to my surprise that Facebook doesn’t take no for an answer, and like a bunny boiler ex-girlfriend, has decided that even though I had said the relationship was over, that it’s not over. My data has been retained by Facebook despite my deletion of it in case I ever come to my senses and come crawling back.
Despite learning that it is not possible to delete my own data permanently from Facebook I was still relieved to be finally off it and that it would no longer have access to any new information about me. It turns out that when I left was not a moment too soon as the latest revelation about Facebook is that they ALLOW threats of violence against an individual if they have decided that you are a “dangerous individual”.
Threats of violence against people like Paul Joseph Watson, Laura Loomer, Alex Jones and Milo are acceptable according to Facebook.
It’s okay to threaten people with violence and death on Facebook, so long as your target is a “dangerous individual” such as Paul Joseph Watson or Laura Loomer, according to the social network’s increasingly Orwellian set of rules.
The tech giant’s recently-updated policy on “violence and incitement” states that death threats and incitement to violence are banned across the platform, unless your threat is aimed someone the social network has labeled an acceptable target.
Here’s Facebook’s rule in full […]
Do not post:
Threats that could lead to death (and other forms of high-severity violence) of any target(s) […] (unless the target is an organisation or individual covered in the Dangerous Individuals and Organisations Policy)
Including content where no target is specified but a symbol represents the target and/or includes a visual of an armament to represent violence
Statements advocating for high-severity violence (unless the target is an organisation or individual covered in the Dangerous Individuals and Organisations Policy)
Aspirational or conditional statements to commit high-severity violence (unless the target is an organisation or individual covered in the Dangerous Individuals and Organisations Policy)
Who counts as a “dangerous individual,” according to Facebook? The list includes InfoWars host Alex Jones, populist pundit Paul Joseph Watson, conservative activist Laura Loomer, Louis Farrakhan, and Milo Yiannopoulos.Breitbart
Facebook also maintains a list of high-profile political figures who it monitors for potential designation as “hate agents.” The list includes black conservative star Candace Owens, author and think tank founder Brigitte Gabriel, and British politicians Carl Benjamin and Anne-Marie Waters. They have not been designated as “dangerous individuals” yet — but everyone has been designated as such was once on the “hate agents” review list.[…]
This is a step too far. Facebook has crossed a moral line and they are also breaking the law in Western Countries. They are sanctioning violent threats against people based on their political opinions.
To blatantly put into writing that they will allow this moral and legal line to be crossed without any fear of consequences shows us just how powerful and untouchable the Corporation of Facebook feels.