Facebook has recently started to enforce a ban on content related to white nationalism or white separatism. While this action represents a move to monitor hate speech, Facebook is overstepping its bounds and is preventing difficult but necessary conversations from taking place.

This policy change builds on previous bans on hate speech which had originally accepted white separatism as an important part of people’s identities and different from white supremacy which was already prohibited. But now, Facebook will redirect users searching for white nationalism or white separatism to the website Life After Hate. This website aims to encourage compassion to users who spread hateful rhetoric.

“Facebook, as a privately owned platform is well within its rights to limit whatever it wants. Its latest decision is a reaction to concerns and tastes of a sizable portion of its users. It is now making a business decision to keep users and advertisers from leaving,” Roy Gutterman, director of the Tully Center for Free Speech and associate professor of magazine, news and digital journalism, said in an email.

Although the content monitoring and banning is Facebook’s attempt to prevent hateful messages, it’s essentially censorship. Censorship has historically been a dangerous practice, and in this case, the content ban wrongly forces Facebook’s agenda on others.

Don’t get me wrong, white nationalism and separatism aren’t good or things I support. But, it’s critical that we allow free speech and remember our histories no matter how painful the process may be. The ban now is only against white nationalism and separatism, but this sets a dangerous precedent. All this ban serves to do is encourage users to avoid conflict or disagreements which will only further our issues and destroy democracy in the process.

I recognize Facebook has its own rights and an obligation to ensure a happy experience for its users. But its content ban oversteps these rights by limiting users that disagree with Facebook’s ideals.

Social networks shouldn’t force their own beliefs on their users, they’re platforms for individuals to express their own ideas.

Bethanie Viele is a junior biology major with a focus on environmental sciences and religion minor. Her column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at bmviele@syr.edu.

Published on April 16, 2019 at 9:19 pm