Chintan Girish Modi
There is a fine line betwixt removing abhor speech communication in addition to protecting costless speech. Facebook needs to larn where that boundary lies. Mark Zuckerberg is inwards the word again. This fourth dimension he is non receiving an honorary grade from Harvard, selling Free Basics, or donating some other chunk of his large fortune towards setting upward a charity. Facebook, the fellowship he co-founded, is inwards troubled waters. The abrupt currents are beingness felt non only inwards the the States of America, where he lives, but all the way across inwards Republic of Republic of India every bit well.
On March 21, 2018, arch rivals Bharatiya Janata Party in addition to the Indian National Congress took to sparring with each other over alleged links with the at in 1 trial notorious information analytics theatre Cambridge Analytica. Meanwhile, Facebook was apparently helping millions of people notice mutual Earth across iii of the world’s most heavily armed borders. Facebook’s peace tracker shows that it connected 26,04,986 users from Republic of Republic of India in addition to Islamic Republic of Pakistan inwards improver to 1,95,435 users from State of Israel in addition to the Palestinian Territory, in addition to 1,40,397 users from Ukraine in addition to Russian Federation that real day. This is, yesteryear no means, a child accomplishment inwards regions that are known for cross-border terrorism, armed forces occupation, in addition to ceasefire violations. Perhaps, someday, Facebook testament fix a scheme to runway friendships betwixt BJP in addition to Congress supporters.
Amidst the worldwide condemnation of Facebook for a information breach that has compromised the personal information of unopen to fifty 1 one one thousand thousand Americans, it tin hold upward hard to appreciate how this social media website has strengthened Track III diplomacy. Republic of Republic of India in addition to Pakistan, for instance, are known for a visa regime that makes it impossible for most of their citizens to see each other’s countries. I direct keep been fortunate plenty to see Islamic Republic of Pakistan a few times to participate inwards educational exchanges in addition to literature festivals. However, dozens of friends on either side testament never direct keep that opportunity. Facebook enables them to encounter virtually, in addition to larn nearly each other’s lives, when their governments erect multiple barriers to such dialogue. It gives citizens from both countries a platform to create a counter-narrative to the abhor peddled yesteryear jingoistic politicians in addition to war-mongering media. They tin mourn together over Sridevi’s death, in addition to fissure jokes nearly whose politicians are to a greater extent than corrupt.
I remember it would hold upward disastrous, however, to create a messiah out of Facebook. Despite the company’s insistence on branding the social media portal every bit a community, it is obviously a concern whose policy on abhor speech communication merits closer scrutiny. Wikipedia tells me that Zuckerberg’s meshwork worth was estimated to hold upward US $72.5 billion every bit of March 5, 2018. I mightiness faint if I began converting that amount into Indian currency. On a to a greater extent than serious note, this yr on March 13, the Observer Research Foundation inwards Republic of Republic of India published a report titled ‘Encouraging Counter-Speech yesteryear Mapping the Contours of Hate Speech on Facebook inwards India’ authored yesteryear Maya Mirchandani, Ojasvi Goel in addition to Dhananjay Sahai. It is based on a study conducted “with back upward from Facebook to analyse posts in addition to comments on prominent populace pages posting inwards India…(which) belong to mainstream word organisations, community groups, religious organisations, in addition to prominent populace personalities.” I testament assay to analyse this report, in addition to dot out the contradictions inherent inwards Facebook’s approach towards its user base.
Have yous read through Facebook’s community standards? If yous direct keep already joined the #DeleteFacebook movement, yous in all probability do non care. If yous haven’t, these standards are aimed at encouraging respectful conduct online. Facebook identifies every bit ‘hate speech’ whatever content that direct attacks people based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, serious disabilities in addition to diseases. It claims to disallow organizations in addition to people dedicated to promoting hatred against these protected groups from having a Facebook presence. If yous direct keep an uncle posting nearly how homosexuals should hold upward killed or mosques should hold upward demolished, in addition to these posts are non beingness removed, yous tin acquire far impact with Facebook. The community is expected to study intend content thence that Facebook tin take abhor speech.
Interestingly, humour, satire in addition to social commentary are allowed, in addition to thence is insensitive, distasteful in addition to offensive content if it does non violate Facebook’s policies. Now that sounds confusing. Can sense of humour non hold upward hateful? Can satire non incite violence against sure enough individuals or groups? Can people who notice a post offensive non destroy property, or damage themselves? Facebook’s distinction betwixt what qualifies every bit abhor speech, in addition to what does not, seems poorly defined. The ambiguity hither comes from the tension betwixt 2 pregnant priorities — condemning abhor speech communication in addition to protecting costless speech, both of which are crucial inwards democratic societies that uphold the correct to life every bit good every bit civil liberties. An incitement to violence may originate from abhor speech communication spouted yesteryear private users acting of their ain testament or on behalf of organizations, in addition to it is non solely unlikely that some of these mightiness savour the patronage of politicans inwards power. Restrictions on costless speech communication are enforced yesteryear the nation itself through laws that are meant to protect nation secrets, ensure populace order, in addition to foreclose violence that tin pause out when religious sentiments are hurt.
TheWire.in reported that, at the Rising Republic of Republic of India Summit inwards New Delhi on March 17 this year, India’s Union Minister for Information in addition to Broadcasting Smriti Irani revealed her ministry’s innovation to draft legislation that would regulate online content because it functions inwards an ecosystem that has no clear bear of conduct. Would this novel law apply to the BJP’s ain information technology Cell that is famous for its social media warriors, or would it target only the worshippers of Indira Gandhi who direct keep forgotten the Emergency in addition to Operation Blue Star? Only fourth dimension testament tell.
A few days later, on March 22, Ravi Shankar Prasad, India’s Union Minister for Electronics in addition to Information Technology told Economic Times, “I direct keep conveyed my concerns to social media companies. They must ensure that their platforms are non used to defame people, promote terrorism in addition to extremism.” If he is serious, I appear frontwards to a twenty-four hours when the belatedly Jawaharlal Nehru testament non hold upward trolled for hugging his sister, in addition to no humans testament hold upward sacrificed to ensure the security of cows.
It is non surprising that the Indian authorities is bang-up on monitoring online content. Facebook is where many activists at in 1 trial do their recruiting, organizing, in addition to message-bombing. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 lot of this textile is openly critical of authorities policies, in addition to aims to convey out facts in addition to stories that are non highlighted inwards mainstream media. People with political musculus tin curb such costless speech communication yesteryear calling it abhor speech. The ORF study recognizes the possibility of manipulation on these lines.
Hate speech communication tin include words that are insulting to those inwards ability in addition to derisive or derogatory of prominent individuals. At critical times, such every bit during election campaigns, the concept of abhor speech communication may hold upward prone to manipulation. Accusations of fomenting abhor speech communication may hold upward traded with political opponents or used yesteryear those inwards ability to curb dissent in addition to criticism. Personal abuse, abhor speech communication in addition to vehement extremism oft be inwards the same ecosystem, with 1 feeding into the other, non necessarily inwards a linear way.
What is Facebook’s stance here? Is it genuinely the condom infinite that it promises to be? Does it permit users post whatever they deem fit, in addition to trust them to self-regulate every bit a community? Does it collude with governments that desire to boundary the liberty of their citizens? In 2017, the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law published a paper titled ‘Countering Violent Extremism’ written yesteryear Faiza Patel in addition to Meghan Koushik. It states, “Facebook has drawn criticism for, with other things, deactivating the accounts of several prominent Palestinian journalists, deleting accounts in addition to posts relating to the conflict inwards Kashmir, in addition to removing an iconic Vietnam War photograph of a immature napalm victim because it ran afoul of nudity restrictions. While Facebook conceded that these materials in addition to accounts were taken downward yesteryear error in addition to restored them, the cases illustrate the difficulty of making judgements nearly what materials autumn inside its broadly phrased community standards.”
The ORF study does admit meshwork shutdowns yesteryear the Indian authorities “in times of a security or a law-and-order problem” every bit good every bit posts nearly Kashmir that direct keep been blocked or removed yesteryear Facebook. It is useful to know that the timeframe of the ORF study, July 2016 to 2017, coincides with iii major incidents inwards the Kashmir valley — the killing of Burhan Wani from the Hizbul Mujahideen inwards a counter-terrorism functioning yesteryear the Indian security forces, the lynching of Deputy Superintendent Ayub Pandith yesteryear a mob accusing the Kashmiri Muslim law officeholder of plotting to kill Mirwaiz Umar Farooq of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, in addition to a terrorist assail on a busload of Amarnath pilgrims yesteryear Pakistan-backed Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists inwards South Kashmir. What has Facebook got to do with counter-terrorism operations? Is it non supposed to focus on connecting friends in addition to families thence that they tin portion truthful cat pictures, demo off their novel haircut, in addition to stem former lovers?
While the ORF study places Facebook’s mandate of identifying in addition to removing abhor speech communication inside the larger framework of a projection widely known every bit ‘Countering Violent Extremism’ (CVE), it is soundless nearly the shady history in addition to critiques of CVE inside the the States of America where this concept originated. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 Reuters report from Feb 25, 2016 indicates that the US Department of Justice in addition to the US Department of Homeland Security reached out to Facebook, Twitter in addition to Google to direct keep the Pb inwards “disrupting online radicalization” because of the government’s ain “limited success inwards combating Islamic extremist messaging.”
The Brennan Center newspaper establishes that CVE has been portion of discussions nearly counterterrorism for over a decade but it shot to prominence inwards 2011 when the White House issued its National Strategy for Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism inwards the United States. The Obama management gave millions of dollars to law departments, academic institutions, in addition to non-profit groups to fund a secondary laid of preventive measures that would supplement law enforcement counterterrorism tactics such every bit surveillance, investigations, in addition to prosecutions. Officials inwards the Trump management direct keep apparently floated the thought of renaming it ‘Countering Radical Islam’ or ‘Countering Violent Jihad’.
Patel in addition to Koushik write, “Regardless of whether CVE is called Countering Radical Islam or not, the programs initiated nether this rubric yesteryear the Obama management — patch couched inwards neutral damage — have, inwards practice, focused almost exclusively on American Muslim communities. This is despite the fact that empirical information shows that violence from far correct movements results inwards at to the lowest degree every bit many fatalities inwards the US every bit attacks inspired yesteryear Al Qaeda or the Islamic State.” According to them, CVE stigmatizes Muslim communities every bit inherently suspect, creates serious risks of flagging innocuous activity every bit pre-terrorism, in addition to suppresses religious observance in addition to speech. They add, “These flaws are only exacerbated when CVE programs are run yesteryear an management that is overtly hostile towards Muslims, in addition to that includes inside its highest ranks individuals known for their frequent in addition to populace denunciations of a organized faith that is skillful yesteryear 1.6 billion people to a greater extent than or less the world.”
What would CVE appear similar inwards the Indian context, which is non thence different from the American 1 inwards that nosotros every bit good direct keep an management that is overtly hostile towards Muslims? Would the government’s novel legislation to regulate online content incriminate in addition to discriminate against citizens from minority communities nether the pretext of curbing abhor speech communication in addition to countering vehement extremism? Patel in addition to Koushik remind us that, inwards 2016, Ben Emmerson, the UN Special Rapporteur for Counterterrorism in addition to Human Rights, “issued a study highlighting the conceptual weaknesses of the CVE framework in addition to cautioned that the approach jeopardizes anti-discrimination norms, liberty of expression, liberty of movement, in addition to securitizes the protection of human rights inwards undesirable ways.”
Under CVE, the Federal Bureau of Investigation inwards the US directs schools “to dice on a lookout adult man on students’ political views in addition to position those who are curious nearly the discipline thing of extremism.” If the same happened inwards India, it is slowly to imagine that students from Muslim neighbourhoods every bit good every bit students from states similar Jammu in addition to Kashmir, Nagaland, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Assam, Punjab with a history of secessionist movements mightiness come upward nether the scanner. Their online activity on schoolhouse computers would hold upward strictly monitored. This would amount to ethnic in addition to racial profiling, violating the telephone substitution rights of these citizens. Moreover, such a directive would create schools physically in addition to emotionally dangerous for students, damaging the spirit of critical thinking in addition to questioning. School teachers are non trained for intelligence gathering, in addition to direct keep no professional person sense inwards law enforcement. Their chore is to encourage learning.
Facebook appears reluctant to direct keep serious responsibleness for these concerns. It expects users to acquire by abhor speech communication with ‘counter-speech’ or “crowd-sourced responses to extremist or intend content” every bit noted inwards the ORF report. It has been funding non-profit organizations in addition to community initiatives to educate users to post comments that disagree with intend content, in addition to promote human rights. However, Facebook seems to furnish few protections against surveillance from the state, which is clearly non every bit benevolent every bit it mightiness similar us to believe.
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