Friday, July 27, 2018

Facebook shuts down Brazil Libertarians' pages

Brazil: Facebook Censors Pages and Profiles of Libertarian Political Party - David Unsworth, Pan-Am Post:

July 27, 2018 - "As presidential elections loom in Brazil, Facebook has closed multiple political pages, ... with undue scrutiny being placed on the libertarian Movimento Brasil Livre (MBL) party.

"Through a statement, on Wednesday, July 25, Facebook closed '196 pages and 87 profiles in Brazil that violated our authenticity policies'....  Facebook alleged an alleged 'rigorous investigation” by which it justified intervening in the freedom of expression and access to information of countless Brazilians....

"Most of them were part of the Movimento Brasil Livre network, which the mass media has deemed 'extreme right', despite being supporters of the legalization of drugs and civil unions for people of the same sex. The party’s national coordinator, Fernando Holiday, is black and gay.... Holiday leads the party along side, Kim Kataguiri, grandson of Japanese immigrants and pre-candidate for federal deputy, whose actions and protests were key to achieving the impeachment of ex-president Dilma Roussef. Currently MBL is protesting outside the offices of Facebook in Sao Paulo....

"In the words of Ricardo Almeida, MBL coordinator, in the state of Bahia.... 'Of course it is false that we spread fake news.... First, in general, the news shared by sites linked to the MBL are also disseminated by other means. Second, the indictment does not include any evidence of the alleged false news. Third, an expressive part of the content is opinion and analysis, not news. And fourth, several personal profiles were also shut down, which were not false accounts....

"'We have evidence that Facebook has anti-right-wing orientation. And not exclusively in Brazil, but in other countries such as the United States.... Facebook is using its discretion in order to reduce the influence of right-wing parties, especially of the MBL, in the presidential election....

"'Facebook, although it is a private company, has contractual obligations and its policy is intended to be transparent... Zuckerberg himself was very clear when he was testifying before the US Senate to say that Facebook is a politically neutral forum.... If people go on Facebook to use it as a tool to disseminate ideas, and then Facebook makes it impossible to do that, the minimum that can be determined is that a breach of contract has been committed.'"

Read more: https://panampost.com/david-unsworth/2018/07/27/brazil-facebook-censors-pages-and-profiles-of-libertarian-political-party/?cn-reloaded=1
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