Facebook Doesn't Tolerate Anti-Gay Posts But Won't Remove Fat Shaming and Revenge Porn
Facebook is getting a lot of flak these days because of its failure to clamp down on vile pages and posts perpetuating hate speech, fake news and terrorism. Making things worse is the double standard observed by the social media giant wherein harmless posts are taken down while offensive ones are tolerated.
For example, Christian posts that pointed out the sin of homosexuality were stricken off even if the statements didn't attack an individual person, thus falling within the realm of free speech. Not only were the entries deleted, the pages were frozen as well that rendered them unusable for days.
Another instance of the double standard was exposed in Australia regarding a disgusting post that can be categorized as fat shaming and revenge porn which appeared on a secret, all-male Facebook group. The post featured a photo of a man (presumably the uploader) on top of an overweight woman.
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The picture carried a mean caption that read: "What is the biggest whale that you have harpooned? I went through a tubby phase and landed this 130kg beast." The post earned 230 likes and 103 comments, all having laughs at the image with not one expressing disgust.
A netizen by the name of Hayden Brein reported the image to Facebook and demanded that it be taken down. But Facebook replied it cannot do so for the reason that the post didn't breach the social networking site's "community standards." Frustrated, he shared the post but with the woman's image deleted in the hope that other users who will be enraged will help him exert pressure on the company.
Facebook's response to the incident is a sharp contrast with the experience of Elizabeth Johnston of Ohio. Her "Activist Mommy" page was suspended last February for posting a Biblical verse condemning homosexuality. The post supposedly violated Facebook's rules against attacking people based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, sex, gender or gender identity, serious disabilities or diseases.
