Yesterday, Facebook sent me a notification stating that it had covered a “violent” picture shared in 2015. The picture was a bloody body of a dead girl caught in the crossfire during Ipob’s riot at Onitsha. The dead girl’s body was lying in the middle of the street, soaked and drenched in her blood. That happened four years ago…. Facebook decided, four years after my post, that it was too graphic. We live in crazy times…Two days ago, Facebook restored my privileges to be engaged in its social media outlet. I was suspended for 37 days because I posted materials, it claimed, violated “our community posting”. By the time you begin to read this, an African, perhaps, a Nigerian, would either be facing suspension for a few days or have been permanently banned from his/her Facebook status because it violated “community posting rules”. How many users have really bothered to read that nonsense?. Furthermore, it unilaterally determines who and what to suspend without due process: Facebook is the jury, the prosecutor the judge and the hangman or death-row, aided by its technology that is programmed to flag certain words and sentences, controlled and or monitored by Generation Xers who are impatient or lack understanding of the structure and or context words are applied or amplified in our contents and comments.
Facebook has targeted some of Africa’s brilliant and engaging voices and writers on its social media platform, while it allows the most horrific and grotesque expressions of whites and non-Africans to brazenly broadcast across its platform without flagging. Example:
On November 1st, CNN published this story:
“ You can call someone the n-word and give her graphic instructions on how to kill herself, and you won't get kicked off Facebook..
Or you can tell a mother you hope her son gets raped, and you won't get kicked off the world's most popular social media platform. Or you can tell a mother whose 5-year-old daughter has died that "if your kids keep dying its god trying to tell u u don't deserve them."You can write to that mother: "F*k you ct. Are you dead yet ct? Fingers crossed. Spit on cts like you. You ct dog. Die ct. You piece of sh*t ct dog. You are an ignorant dumb dog. Die c*t."Still, you can stay on Facebook…..
“These are the findings of a six-month CNN investigation into bullying and harassment faced by parents, doctors and others who advocate for vaccination on Facebook....”
On November 1st, CNN published this story:
“ You can call someone the n-word and give her graphic instructions on how to kill herself, and you won't get kicked off Facebook..
Or you can tell a mother you hope her son gets raped, and you won't get kicked off the world's most popular social media platform. Or you can tell a mother whose 5-year-old daughter has died that "if your kids keep dying its god trying to tell u u don't deserve them."You can write to that mother: "F*k you ct. Are you dead yet ct? Fingers crossed. Spit on cts like you. You ct dog. Die ct. You piece of sh*t ct dog. You are an ignorant dumb dog. Die c*t."Still, you can stay on Facebook…..
“These are the findings of a six-month CNN investigation into bullying and harassment faced by parents, doctors and others who advocate for vaccination on Facebook....”
But if you are African or black, that boldly and bluntly post comments condemning indecent human existence, crime and punishment, Facebook will flag your comments and block you because you violated its” Community Posting Rules”. Meanwhile, as you serve your imposed censorship, Facebook continues to allow your platform or status to broadcast live content, trending information, it continues to post adverts while you are silenced.
Black people are targeted with misinformation and Facebook doesn't suspend those conspiracy right-wing racists with their propaganda lies that are oftentimes laced with violent and vitriolic languages..
Facebook is the greatest threat to free speech in Africa. It is racist and I will continue to call it out…
Facebook wants to regulate our lifestyles, language, culture and our etymology: It wants to tell us how to narrate our stories and what to say. And if we pushed hardest, it suspends our privilege to post but allows our pages to continue to trend because of its profiting from propaganda and advertisements that circle our pages.
Facebook is the greatest threat to Africa’s young democracy: it is a threat to our free speech and our ways of life...Facebook profits from our status’ provocative, engaging and refreshing contents, reward us with censorship while it allows racist conspiracy theories posted by Whites and European indigenes to trend or broadcast, spread hate on its social medium.
Facebook has weaponized free speech to victimize third world voices and minorities...
We must collectively resist this new draconian censorship by Facebook. This might be my last time posting here. Facebook may ban me. I do not care. I don’t give a damn. Facebook is a terror to our narratives, our stories and our elements and styles. Don’t allow Facebook to tell you how to tell your story and what to write. Resist Facebook. Do not be afraid. You had a life before Facebook. Your life shall continue after it. Don’t be a 21st-century slave and allow Facebook to decide or control your thought process.
*Azuka Jebose
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