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Facebook's hate speech ban is 'part of the problem' with online division, expert warns


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2019 May 22, 7:37pm   515 views  0 comments

by Patrick   ➕follow (55)   💰tip   ignore  

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-april-10-2019-1.5090939/facebook-s-hate-speech-ban-is-part-of-the-problem-with-online-division-expert-warns-1.5091010

'This isn't just about security. It's about the health of our democracy,' says media ethics chair Taylor Owen

Facebook said Wednesday it is broadening its definition of hate speech to apply to 'white nationalists' and 'white separatists.'

Media ethics expert Taylor Owen says global social platforms like Facebook should not set the metric by which society measures free speech.

The social media giant announced Monday it would ban far-right political commentator Faith Goldy and white nationalist crusader Kevin Goudreau, among other groups, citing its recent crackdown on far-right extremism and white nationalism.

But Owen, who is an associate professor in the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University and the Beaverbrook Chair in Ethics, Media and Communication, argues that Facebook's move will likely conflict with democratic institutions that may have different definitions of what constitutes free speech.

He described Facebook's latest move to mitigate hate speech online as "insufficient" because it and other major tech companies "exist within and are using the tools of what is ultimately a private space that I think itself is part of the problem." ...

As tech giants and governments seek solutions to the growing problem of online extremism, Owen says the solution will not be found on a universal global scale.

"Free speech means different things to different people in different countries, and we've always reconciled that through our democratic institutions," he said, highlighting the differences between Canada's hate speech laws versus the U.S.'s First Amendment and Germany's ban on Nazi content.

"So the question is this disconnect between a global platform that wants one set of rules for everybody on the planet, and the way we've mitigated speech in the past, which is through national democratic processes."
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