Test for censure on facebook...

[spiritguide]

So do we have Homeland censure on face book? Well I was discussing a movie with my daughter a few minutes ago and one of my suggestions to her was to "research secret space programs". I posted this and FB replied that the content could not be posted.

So what my guess is that there is something to the subject or FB is really over the top.

Try it out see if you get the same response!

This is the first time in my life that someone or something has told me I could not talk freely.



PS. The movie was The Abyss".

[Sidney]

Have you tried wording it differently or spelling out the sentence with lots of spaces and dashes? This is a huge strike against our constitutional right of freedom of speech. Sickening.

[spiritguide]

Posted by starchild111 (here)
Have you tried wording it differently or spelling out the sentence with lots of spaces and dashes? This is a huge strike against our constitutional right of freedom of speech. Sickening.

The post was public, I messaged her and spelled it out and it went through in the PM. So try it yourself on a public posting. Type in " research secret space program"

[bodhii71]

I've experienced this to a degree as well. Over half of the 1500 videos I had favorited on You Tube have been deleted or the person's account has been shut down. I cannot like or dislike comments made below the videos. And most importantly, I found that sites I had subscribed to I would later be unsubscribed. And found that friends were not seeing some posts on FB that may have been controversial. Now with the promote feature offered by FB one must pay to reach others. While this may be simply a business model, it does allow for censorship and a bottle necking of communication.
There are ways around it though.

@ Spiritguide I did post "research secret space program" on my wall without any problems but haven't tried sharing it on another's wall.

[soleil]

hmmmmm...totally not surprised.
they got fb too!

[angelahedgehog]

I guess for the 1st worlders this is quite a serious thing because there's always been a perception that you have the freedom to express yourselves - this form of expression was encouraged in the past and positively contributed to building better understanding - somewhere along the way, something was lost and instead of expression being about discussion and understanding, it became about conflict and confrontation, bruised feelings and outraged fringe groups from every single walk of life.

As for the reviews and moderation, I've noticed this sort of thing happen quite a lot in different places.
When on the phone, I've also noticed the tone on the line changes and weird echoing noises occur when certain subjects come up, certain trigger words ...
I'm darn sure that this is definitely being done.

I've seen articles where they say that it's been discussed and the tech is available, but I think that they're just catching up with what they're already doing and besides, when you're calling abroad, you don't really know who's listening in.

I notice search results return the mainstream results, you have to search for the less mainstream stuff with more creativity.

FB definitely reviews comments about certain subjects because as you post, there's a delay before it's shown and with subsequent replies too.

The Facebook promote function seems designed to reduce the value of the Newsfeed. I found a way to create a group of interests and I use that to see everything else FB hasn't deemed important enough to display on my wall - so that's a way around not seeing the updates you really want to see.

Signs indicate that there will be monitoring - but haven't you noticed that there are many different ways to say something without really saying much?

Peace,
Ang

[Flash]

Angelahedgehog (this is a difficult avatar name, ouf), when one has to start to be creative to express oneself, in order not to be censured, cut off, name it, when you have to use "many different ways to say something without really saying much", this means that your communication potential is under great stress and communications will become deficient if they have to be convoluted in order to be published or spoken. Ask Russians who were adults under the ex USSR.

THis is where it becomes important to understand that free speech is not free speech in public/private forums, in privately owned facebook, etc.

[angelahedgehog]

Angelahedgehog (this is a difficult avatar name, ouf), when one has to start to be creative to express oneself, in order not to be censured, cut off, name it, when you have to use "many different ways to say something without really saying much", this means that your communication potential is under great stress and communications will become deficient if they have to be convoluted in order to be published or spoken. Ask Russians who were adults under the ex USSR.

THis is where it becomes important to understand that free speech is not free speech in public/private forums, in privately owned facebook, etc.

Aw call me Ang, much easier

I rewrote because I was half asleep last night (sleep deprived mum of toddler here) and none of it made the point I wanted to make ....

I don't think free speech was ever free. I just think that there was a time when it was perceived to be and people who grew up with the concept took it for granted. There was a time when protesting helped - eventually.

Obviously it was never really free as the victims of Jimmy Savile will attest to, and Holly Greig still hasn't had justice.
I've just noticed that with tech it's become easier to clamp down on what people want to say - its not that I have anything dangerous to say, but I should be informed if my conversation is being listened to, after all they have to tell you if there are speed cameras on the road, or CCTV cameras around you and if they employ listening or moderation devices then why be secretive about it? Come out and admit it and then everybody knows.

The OP said she and her daughter were discussing a great movie, what she wrote was in context with the movie - how dare FB decide what people can and can't say - sounds like there was a real Jobsworth on the review panel that night ..... So resorting to creative speech is a way around the doofus at the desk.

Heres an example of a statement that i might want to keep within a smallish group that has a trigger word that could cause greater attention - beyond the audience for whom its intended ... We had monthly b*mb scares where our school had to be evacuated while the b*mb squad swept for reported devices, this was terrifying for me as it was between the ages of 8-12 and happened frequently .... Now this not an inflammatory statement, but it's something I'm putting here in context. It's not something someone invisible somewhere needs look at just because its got the b word in it.

I find communicating online very stressful because you just don't know who you're talking to, and you just don't know if you're meeting someone later who knows you but doesn't reveal that it was because they had the wherewithal to track you down .... I have experienced this deception a few years ago ... I hated it, freaked me out!

But free speech may not be free, and there may be censure - but for privately owned forums and Facebook - if they're censoring, they should be open about it and why. There should also be some sort of way to report that they're being Orwellian and in That way it cannot be abused.

Peace,
Ang