[governance] Facebook profiles blocked and content removed in Brazil

[Marilia Maciel]

Last weekend a feminist march took place in several cities in Brazil. It is
called "March of Bitches" (Marcha das Vadias) and it is an international
movement that was born in Canada. Some women decided to March wearing
lingerie or with naked breasts as a way to call attention to violence
against women, women's liberty and sexual rights and they posted their own
pictures in Facebook. Their pictures were removed and their profile was
blocked.

So, let me get this right: Brazilian media publishes the pictures from the
protest, in a sign that this would not at all hurt the average citizen. But
Facebook (the platform where most of the use of the Internet is,
unfortunately, converging to) gets to decide what people can or cannot show
in their albums; what is pornography, and where to draw the line of
morality. It has been reported in Brazil that Facebook is also blocking old
pictures from well known artists that display naked people, and pictures
from little girls aged 3-4 posted by their parents, because they were not
wearing shirts.

This seems a very undemocratic, opaque and potentially dangerous way of
conducting Internet governance. The news (in Portuguese) and one of the
controversial pictures can be accessed here:
http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/tec/1097488-facebook-bloqueia-usuarias-que-aparecem-seminuas-em-fotos-da-marcha-das-vadias.shtml

Marília


-- 
Centro de Tecnologia e Sociedade
FGV Direito Rio

Center for Technology and Society
Getulio Vargas Foundation
Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
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