Kashmir: Facebook facing criticism for blocking posts, accounts

It was just recently that Facebook was slammed over blocking Pro-Kashmir activist Huma Dar’s account. On confronting Facebook about the ban, the social giant had told us , “Our Community Standards prohibit content that praises or supports terrorists, terrorist organisations or terrorism, and we remove it as soon as we’re made aware of it. We welcome discussion on these subjects but any terrorist content has to be clearly put in a context which condemns these organisations or their violent activities.” Now, many users and also a local English daily have posted screenshots showing netizens that their posts have been removed for violating Facebook’s Community Standards, points out a report by  The Indian Express. The report added that users who had kept terrorist Burhan Wani’s photos as their profile image have also complained that the social media website had taken down the pictures. In the past one year, social giants like Facebook and Twitter have been taking anti-terrorism policies quite seriously. For Twitter, it gets even trickier as the platform is known for promoting free speech and open debate. In case of Facebook, it is quite likely that the messages may have been flagged or reported by many, but that may not necessarily be the reason. However, Facebook users whose accounts have been blocked get the option to learn why it has been blocked with  fb.me/disabled and many users have been able to restore them. It’s not just reports that lead to banning or pulling down content, and in many cases, you may not even know the reason. Facebook can legally block content without owing you an explanation. Meanwhile, Twitter is also known to have tightened its stand against hateful and extremist content.