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Facebook 'Supreme Court' Member Warns that Regulation Could Stifle Free Speech Online

Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the co-chair of Facebooks Supreme Court, has warned that an aggressive approach to regulating the company could infringe upon freedom of speech.

Her comments stand in stark contrast to the companys purge of conservatives and plan to blacklist legal comment that might cause regulatory impacts.

Speaking to CNBCs Squawk Box Europe, Thorning-Schmidt stated:If regulation gets too heavy, it actually will impact freedom of speech very heavily.

Thorning-Schmidt compared the regulation of Facebook to the recent shutdown of the internet that occurred last month in Belarus following the countrys election results in whichPresident Alexander Lukashenko declared yet another landslide victory. The election has been condemned by world leaders as illegitimate and the European Union has threatened sanctions on Belarusian officials for violence, repression, and election fraud.

Other board members includeAlan Rusbridger, former editor-in-chief of the Guardian, and Andras Sajo, a former judge and VP of the European Court of Human Rights.

It might not be ideal and it might be a small step, but it is a step in the right direction to finally have an independent board, an oversight board, that can take these decisions.

The platform refuses to allow pages in support of Kyle Rittenhouse, declaring his actions mass murder before he ever stepped into court to defend himself.

On the other hand, the company was happy to host pages dedicated to terrorists and convicted murderers ranging from Charles Manson to Assata Shakur.

Original article
Author: Lucasnolan

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Lucasnolan has recently written 11 articles on similar topics including :
  1. "This week, Facebook announced that the platform will take down or censor content that is completely legal and within the rules but that the site believes could increase regulatory or legal risks for the social media giant worldwide". (September 1, 2020)
  2. "A recent report from top Democratic Congressional lawmakers has determined that tech giants such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google engage in anti-competitive behavior". (October 7, 2020)
  3. "In a recent interview with Axios on HBO, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg urged the media to assure the public that there was "nothing illegitimate" about waiting days or even weeks to tabulate the results of the upcoming presidential election". (September 8, 2020)
  4. "A recent report from theNew York Post claims that Facebook has hired Chinese nationals who are "working on censorship," at the company. China famously employs the "Great Chinese Firewall" to block many websites within the communist country, including Facebook". (October 21, 2020)
  5. "In a recent article, Wiredoutlines how Facebook is attempting to shut down an academic study of political ad targeting as it prepares to re-enable targeted political ads". (November 23, 2020)
  6. "Tech giant Facebook recently stated it plans to start adding information labels to posts about global warming that direct people to a "climate change information hub."George Mason University, the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, and the University of Cambridge will all contribute to Facebook's program of fact checking". (February 19, 2021)
  7. "A recent report alleges that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told staff that Facebook needs to "inflict pain" on Apple in the ongoing privacy dispute between the two Silicon Valley giants". (February 13, 2021)
  8. "Tech giant Facebook laid out its censorship plan on Thursday, stating it would begin demoting content that its "systems predict may be misinformation" relating to election fraud". (November 6, 2020)
  9. "The Intercept co-founding editor Glenn Greenwald criticized Facebook and Twitter's recent censorship of theNew York Post's bombshell article revealing Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden's alleged meeting with executives of a Ukrainian energy firm". (October 16, 2020)
  10. "The investigative journalism group Project Veritas recently published a series of videos from an insider at tech giant Facebook which features top executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, discussing the company's plans and agendas". (February 1, 2021)
  11. "Social media giant Facebook has announced plans to ban new political ads for the week leading up to Election Day on November 3. Mark Zuckerberg announced the ban along with several other changes because he fearsthere could be an increased risk of civil unrest across the country". (September 3, 2020)
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