[governance] Facebook profiles blocked and content removed in Brazil

michael gurstein gurstein at gmail.com
Thu May 31 09:00:06 EDT 2012 

FWIW I discussed some of these issues in a blogpost (under somewhat
different circumstances) which suggests the links between this discussion
and our earlier one on EC.
 
http://gurstein.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/is-facebook-a-human-right-egypt-and
-tunisia-transform-social-media/
 
Tiny URL http://wp.me/pJQl5-5I
 
M

-----Original Message-----
From: governance-request at lists.igcaucus.org
[mailto:governance-request at lists.igcaucus.org] On Behalf Of Salanieta T.
Tamanikaiwaimaro
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 5:32 PM
To: Marilia Maciel
Cc: governance at lists.igcaucus.org
Subject: Re: [governance] Facebook profiles blocked and content removed in
Brazil




On Thu, May 31, 2012 at 9:12 AM, Marilia Maciel <mariliamaciel at gmail.com>
wrote:


Hi Sala,


On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 5:32 PM, Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro  



Most countries have what is called "laws against obscene publications" and
some "indecent exposure" and I suspect that Brazil has something of the sort
which required the authorities to .take down certain content.


It was not Brazilian authorities that have taken down content from Facebook.
The concrete situation is actually quite the opposite: while Brazilian
authorities had no problem with the march and Brazilian media (newspapers,
TV) had no problem to show the images, Facebook has taken a more
conservative and restrictive stance, removing the pictures and blocking the
profiles. 



Facebook probably took this approach because its social network transcends
multiple jurisdictions that have strict laws on "obscene publications". The
recent petition filed by Vinay Rai in the New Delhi courts against Facebook
and others. My personal take on it was that it was a commercial decision for
"Facebook" and that it was far cheaper to take down offensive content if it
were to put it in a position of being sued. 


Their commercial woes are no secret, see below:

"Facebook's IPO troubles continue with the stock hitting a new low, the
company facing a class action lawsuit from investors, and now another social
network indefinitely postponing its own IPO because of the effect Facebook
has had on the market.

Less than two weeks after Facebook’s IPO launched, the company’s value has
fallen from an estimated $104 billion to $61.98 billion, with trading
falling even further today as the markets opened again in the US after the
holiday weekend. That’s the bad news for the social network. The worse news?
Things aren’t expected to improve any time soon.

Continuing its trend of falling share prices when the overall market rises
(Today, the NASDAQ closed up), Facebook stock took another tumble in today’s
trading, falling an additional 10 percent from its opening price, bringing
its overall price to a new low of $28.84
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/may/29/facebook-shares-fall-new-l
ow> , almost a full $10 down from the $38 price that the stock launched at
on May 18, bringing the company’s core value down to just almost $62
billion. With the company facing a class action lawsuit over the information
released to investors prior to the IPO brought by the law firm of Robbins
Geller, the last thing the company needs to hear is that things are about to
get worse, but apparently, they will."



Read more:
http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/facebook-now-worth-40-percent-less
-11-days-after-ipo/#ixzz1wOGAQsz2 
 
 

The content was removed based on Facebook policy guidelines. It is Facebook
rules, Facebook morality, which have been applied indistictively in a
cross-border fashion  to citizens worlwide.



Well if one examines how they have been under pressure by Regulators around
the world, one that comes to mind is the imposition of the German Regulator
on the use of "like feature" that facebook uses, one can only imagine that
what is reported is the tip of the iceberg. Often commercial entities like
to keep their compliance notices under wraps if they can help it. No doubt
that the cumulative cost would be inevitably high so commercially, their
policy was probably framed around the "Don't attract unnecessary cost/
expense" model. This of course has a backdrop in what is largely a flailing
global economy where there is no new money just pieces of the pie being
reassembled.

If we look at what is recently happening in Thailand as Peng Hwa and Norbert
reported on the notions of transitory liability where webmasters or the like
can face liability (not just fines) but imprisonment for not removing
content, I am not surprised. 


Some basic conclusions: a) rights, such as freedom of expression, are being
restricted by the same platforms that are praised and known for enabling
their exercise; b) there is a privatization of Internet regulation, subtle,
based on contracts (terms of use), but yet, dangerous; c) I see no adequate
forum where we should take this issue to be analized in a participatory and
balanced way in the global arena.



The UN Human Rights Council in February this year were discussing Freedom of
Expression although I wish more ti me was spent on discussing the abuse of
the exceptions under Article 19 of the ICCPR.

On the notion of Facebook morailty - this has to be analysed on a case by
case basis, I suppose.


Best,
Marília



 


The issue remains is when the use of the exception is reasonble and when is
it prone to abuse?

Sala 


On Thu, May 31, 2012 at 5:40 AM, Carlos A. Afonso <ca at cafonso.ca> wrote:


Which translation?? The name of the march in BR is correct, and I did
not see any translation of the Canadian equivalent in Marilia's msg.
Anyway...

--c.a.


On 05/30/2012 12:52 PM, Marilia Maciel wrote:
> Thanks for the correction, Robert. That was the translation Google
> suggested me. Interesting.
> Thanks also for taking this forward.
>
> Marília
>
> On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 12:47 PM, Robert Guerra <rguerra at privaterra.org

> <mailto:rguerra at privaterra.org>> wrote:
>
>     Marilia,
>
>     Your translation is a bit off. The feminist group in question is the
>     "slut walk" that started in my home town of Toronto and has since
>     spread to other cities in CanadThnana, the US, and internationally.
>     Great to know it has spread to Brazil as well.
>
>     I'll forward your email to contacts at Facebook to make sure they
>     are aware of the incident and see if they can comment.
>
>     In the meantime, let me share with you and others links with details
>     on the  "slut walk" movement.
>
>     regards
>
>     Robert
>     --
>
>
>     Toronto 'slut walk' takes to city streets (April 3, 2012)
>
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/04/03/slut-walk-toronto.htm
l
>
>     Toronto 'slut walk' spreads to U.S. (May 6, 2012)
>     http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/05/06/slut-walk.html
>
>     Slut walk in Toronto -
>     http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/show-news/slutwalk-in-toronto.html (March
>     2012)
>
>     Don't know if you ever heard the story, but back in January, at a
>     campus safety information session at Osgoode Hall Law School
>     (University of Toronto), a representative of the Toronto Police made
>     the statement that "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order
>     not to be victimized."
>
>     Of course, the comment sparked a huge outrage, and you just knew a
>     protest was bound to happen.
>
>     But you have to hand it to one group for coming up with one of the
>     most creative protests ever. They areplanning a SlutWalk.
>
>     It's planned for April 3rd in Toronto and everyone is welcome. You
>     don't even necessarily have to dress "slutty." Just come as you are.
>     Sounds like a great way to make a point.
>
>
>
>     On 2012-05-30, at 11:32 AM, Marilia Maciel wrote:
>
>     >
>     > 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-apar
ecem-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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> --
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>
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> Rio de Janeiro - Brazil



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-- 

Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro aka Sala

Tweeter: @SalanietaT
Skype:Salanieta.Tamanikaiwaimaro
Cell: +679 998 2851 <tel:%2B679%20998%202851> 
 




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-- 
Centro de Tecnologia e Sociedade
FGV Direito Rio

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





-- 

Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro aka Sala

Tweeter: @SalanietaT
Skype:Salanieta.Tamanikaiwaimaro
Cell: +679 998 2851
 




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