A coalition of renowned Facebook critics has been forced offline after an web carrier provider (ISP) took its webpage down.
The True Facebook Oversight Board (RFOB) – a community made up of two dozen teachers, activists, lawyers and journalists who were vocal critics of the social media firm – used to be launched final month with the aim of maintaining Facebook responsible ahead of the upcoming US presidential election on 3 November.
Quickly after maintaining its first press conference on 30 September, in which the community demanded the social media firm capture action “to provide protection to this election and motivate our democracy”, Facebook complained to Patience Global-owned ISP SupportNation, which then took the RFOB’s webpage down on 7 October.
In a letter to a key RFOB member, journalist Carole Cadwalladr, SupportNation acknowledged it had “got a complaint that the arena name…is alive to about phishing”.
While it is unclear what evidence used to be presented by Facebook to show the webpage’s malicious intent, it is highly routine for an ISP to capture such action with out first seeking to appear on the claims via dispute resolution procedures that allow operators to finishing up any allegations.
Patience Global and SupportNation did no longer answer to Computer Weekly’s enquiries about the action by the purpose of newsletter.
“It’s a beautiful unparalleled action. Facebook filed a complaint in opposition to no longer one but two of our ISP companies, the second of which eradicated our web pages on the premise of a erroneous allegation made by Facebook. Here’s a firm that has spent years defending its failure to capture accountability for abominate speech, racism and holocaust denial by making erroneous arguments spherical ‘free speech’ actually riding its critics off the safe,” Cadwalladr told Computer Weekly.
“Given its energy and reach – and the actual fact that the ISP didn’t even factor in standing as much as Facebook – I would hope of us realize the gravity and seriousness of what Facebook has executed and why this is this sort of chilling dart.”
“Given its energy and reach, I would hope of us realize the gravity and seriousness of what Facebook has executed and why this is this sort of chilling dart” Carole Cadwalladr, True Facebook Oversight Board
When asked by Computer Weekly why the humble dispute resolution procedures were no longer followed, a Facebook spokesperson acknowledged the firm used to be unaware of the action till it had been dropped at its consideration.
“While we’re aloof investigating, it looks that this web pages used to be mechanically flagged by a dealer on myth of it contained the discover “facebook” within the arena and action used to be taken with out consulting with us,” they acknowledged.
“We capture trademark violations to forestall scandalous actors from constructing web sites which would possibly perhaps location off confusion, or be aged for phishing attacks, fraud, or scams. We are working to capture any restrictions which would possibly perhaps be in dwelling with web carrier companies.”
Shoshana Zuboff, a member of RFOB and creator of The age of surveillance capitalism, added on Twitter that Facebook’s characteristic within the arena capture-down “looks admire authoritarian censorship and testimony to Mr. Zuckerberg’s tyranny” and “showcases the issues we joined as much as strive in opposition to: energy, economic self-dealing, political corruption”.
She added: “Despite the indisputable fact that it were ‘proper industry’ precipitated by arena name, capture into myth the atrocity: FB enables Trump lies, trolls, calls to violence, unfounded election claims, misinformation, voter suppression, fake movies, but acts rapid and decisively in favor of its arena security.”
“There would possibly perhaps be a staunch pattern of behaviour at work here,” acknowledged Cadwalladr. “From going after our funders to appear at and homicide the board sooner than it had even obtained off the ground, to sending out a spokesman to trash focus on us on Twitter, this is a firm that along with being rattled by what the True Facebook Oversight Board is doing, I’d also argue that it has misplaced any honest compass it would possibly perhaps maybe even honest claim to hang had.”
