December 24th, 2014
Facebook Reportedly Blocks Russian Dissident’s Page at Government Request

Reportedly at the request of the Russian government, Facebook has blocked access to a page on the social media site promoting a Jan. 15 rally for a prominent opposition leader and critic of President Vladimir Putin.

Currently under house arrest, lawyer Aleksei Navalny has organized demonstrations promoting democracy and opposing political corruption. Russian authorities have accused him and his brother of stealing and are seeking lengthy jail terms for the two men, charges that western-educated Navalny and his supporters say are false.

Although Facebook seeks to grow its usage among the world’s population, it often gets requests from local governments to, in effect, censor content that either violates the laws of local countries or upsets the sensibilities of world leaders. For instance, in some Muslim countries it is illegal to depict the Prophet Mohammed.

Facebook’s procedures are generally to follow local laws, but that can sometimes mean wading into sensitive territory in which following orders of local politicians is viewed as morally reprehensible by those who support unbridled free speech.

Facebook has been pushing to enter China, where the service is currently blocked. To operate there, Western companies are generally required to follow censorship requests from the Chinese government.

So giving up oversight of ICANN is still a good idea? What are you thinking????

Thanks to WSJ.COM

and, thanks for “listening”.

Howard