He noted that Facebook has “given millions of people a voice all around the world — and it is important the conversations taking place on our service every day are authentic.”
The purge is troubling, however, for those of us with unpopular views like the belief in the sanctity of marriage. I asked Zuckerberg in a recent article to explain exactly what he means by “hate speech” and whether traditional Christian views will be censored by Facebook, but I’m still waiting for his response. The phrase “attacks based on race, gender or sexual orientation” leaves a lot of room for interpretation and Facebook has not been forthcoming about exactly what speech is not permitted. Can we discuss race at all on Facebook anymore or are all such conversations considered an “attack”? Are discussions and comments about sexual ethics off the table? Is every guy who complains about women going to be dumped by Facebook?
As I’ve said repeatedly, Facebook is a private company and as such, they’re free to ban anyone they want for any or no reason. And we’re all free to walk away if we’re not comfortable with the way Zuckerberg is running his company. I only wish that Facebook would be very clear about what’s acceptable speech and what is verboten so that we can decide whether we want to stick with the platform or walk away.
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