September 03, 2014

Facebook enabling political oppression

located:	Vietnam
editor:	Vanessa Ellingham

Social media has long been touted as an opportunity to connect those drawn to similar causes - a place for dialogue between distant but connected individuals.

But it has now been shown to be just another place for those with power to crack down on dissidents.

Facebook's "report abuse" button, designed to ward off internet trolls and remove offensive material from public view, is being used as a tool of oppression to silence political dissidents.

In July the Facebook page of Khmer Krom News was attacked by a flurry of abuse reports aimed at kicking the anti-government publication off Facebook.

Vietnam is a country where the government's propaganda office employs nearly 1000 online "opinion shapers", but many of the complaints actually came from civilians, eager to show their support for the government by reporting abuse all over the publication's account - some even claiming to have made multiple Facebook accounts to multiply the effect.

Using a large group of Facebook accounts to "report abuse" until the account is removed by Facebook officials, the group is essentially taking away the voice of the user - in this case a dissident publication.

While Vietnam is not the first place to experience such takedowns - supporters of Assad in Syria and Putin-loving trolls in Russia have been chasing their opponents all over Facebook via the "report abuse" button for years - this is the first time Facebook's policies have been named as a factor in enabling such attacks.

A Vietnamese watchdog group has counted 44 different journalists and activists who have had their accounts taken down in recent months, disabling their connections with their audiences.

Some of the journalists have said that they cannot be angry with Facebook, as without the service most Vietnamese dissident groups would cease to exist.

Facebook is in a constant struggle to write one set of rules for its global users, attempting a balancing act between allowing free speech and having to keep a handle on terrorist groups such as ISIS who use the platform to spread their messages.