Facebook Changes Rules to Make Journalists A Protected Class

Chris Menahan
InformationLiberation
Oct. 18, 2021

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Facebook has changed its rules to make journalists a protected class shielded from "bullying" and "harassment" (aka criticism), according to a report from Reuters.

From Reuters, "EXCLUSIVE Facebook to change rules on attacking public figures on its platform":

Facebook Inc will now count activists and journalists as "involuntary" public figures and so increase protections against harassment and bullying targeted at these groups, its global safety chief said in an interview this week.

The social media company, which allows more critical commentary of public figures than of private individuals, is changing its approach on the harassment of journalists and "human rights defenders," who it says are in the public eye due to their work rather than their public personas.

This means journos can smear people all over the media and then be shielded from criticism -- which they call "bullying" and "harassment."

To appease the endless campaigns of journalists to pressure Facebook to censor more, Facebook is now removing journalists from the "public figure" category, meaning the freedom to criticize journalists and engage in activism against their work will be sharply curtailed. https://t.co/ltghh81WbP
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 13, 2021

Journalists have been increasingly equating any criticisms of them with "harassment" or "bullying." So often, if a journalist publishes a false or defamatory article and people object, they cast themselves as the victims. Facebook's rule change reflects this self-pitying view.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 13, 2021

One could call this the "Taylor Lorenz Syndrome." So many journalists go around casually ruining the lives and reputations of even private, powerless, obscure people, then instantly claim they're the real victim when people object to that and critique their work ("harassment!").
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 13, 2021

Journos are "involuntary" public figures even though they chose to go into journalism and chose to work for smear merchants and write smear pieces.

Meanwhile, the private figures they dox and smear for as little as sharing memes making fun of Nancy Pelosi are somehow "public figures" and they can have their lives destroyed by multi-billion dollar media conglomerates with Facebook offering them zero protections.

In fact, as we saw with the day laborer who shared a slowed-down meme video of Nancy Pelosi in 2019, Facebook actively worked with the media to dox him and release the private, behind-the-scenes interactions of his account.

Reuters continues:

Earlier this year, Facebook said it would remove content celebrating, praising or mocking George Floyd's death, because he was deemed an involuntary public figure.

Meanwhile, they banned all praise (and impartial legal defenses) of Kyle Rittenhouse.

Facebook's Global Head of Safety Antigone Davis said the company was also expanding the types of attacks that it would not allow on public figures on its sites, as part of an effort to reduce attacks disproportionately faced by women, people of color and the LGBTQ community.

In contrast, Facebook last year changed their "race-blind" hate speech algorithms to allow more anti-white hate.

Facebook will no longer allow severe and unwanted sexualizing content, derogatory sexualized photoshopped images or drawings or direct negative attacks on a person's appearance, for example, in comments on a public figure's profile.

Facebook has a blacklist of hundreds of right-wing media figures and media outlets they've deemed "dangerous individuals and organizations" for so-called "hate speech" and won't allow anyone to "praise" or "support" them but journos and those Facebook deems a "protected class" are to be shielded from all criticism.

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