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Facebook's Secret Censorship Rules Protect White Men From Hate Speech But Not Black Children (propublica.org) 355

Sidney Fussell from Gizmodo summarizes a report from ProPublica, which brings to light dozens of training documents used by Facebook to train moderators on hate speech: As the trove of slides and quizzes reveals, Facebook uses a warped, one-sided reasoning to balance policing hate speech against users' freedom of expression on the platform. This is perhaps best summarized by the above image from one of its training slideshows, wherein Facebook instructs moderators to protect "White Men," but not "Female Drivers" or "Black Children." Facebook only blocks inflammatory remarks if they're used against members of a "protected class." But Facebook itself decides who makes up a protected class, with lots of clear opportunities for moderation to be applied arbitrarily at best and against minoritized people critiquing those in power (particularly white men) at worst -- as Facebook has been routinely accused of. According to the leaked documents, here are the group identifiers Facebook protects: Sex, Religious affiliation, National origin, Gender identity, Race, Ethnicity, Sexual Orientation, Serious disability or disease. And here are those Facebook won't protect: Social class, continental origin, appearance, age, occupation, political ideology, religions, countries. Subsets of groups -- female drivers, Jewish professors, gay liberals -- aren't protected either, as ProPublica explains: White men are considered a group because both traits are protected, while female drivers and black children, like radicalized Muslims, are subsets, because one of their characteristics is not protected.
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Facebook's Secret Censorship Rules Protect White Men From Hate Speech But Not Black Children

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  • Who'd a Thunk? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sycodon ( 149926 ) on Wednesday June 28, 2017 @05:22PM (#54707831)

    Try to police speech and expression and you fuck it up every time.

    • by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 ) on Wednesday June 28, 2017 @05:42PM (#54708039)

      Try to police speech and expression and you fuck it up every time.

      Slashdot's moderation system works pretty well.

      • Re:Who'd a Thunk? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Tuidjy ( 321055 ) on Wednesday June 28, 2017 @06:36PM (#54708441)

        Yes, the policies are poorly written. Did you expect something else from Facebook?

        And I bet some specific populations are inflamed by "White men" being protected while "Black Children" are not.

        But you know what? "Black females" are more protected than "Christian children". "Lesbian Iraqi" are protected, while "White Europeans" are not.

        "Young Europeans are subhuman scum" is OK by the stated policies. "Muslim schizophrenics are dangerous" is to be censored.

        I bet if the article was written by a Fox news reporter, he would have focused on one of the latter examples. Once you know the flawed rules, you can manipulate them to produce inflammatory results.

        As for the slide? Who knows why they came up with such an example. Probably because they wanted the right answer to be reached through knowing the policy, as opposed to following one's gut feelings.

        • This. It's just a mix and match game until you can outrage the right audience.

          Elderly White Priests (age + race + occupation) get no protection while Black Transgender Atheists (race + gender identity + religious affiliation) get special treatment?! Gawd help us, Facebook is the new Gomorrah!

          Poor South American Prostitutes (social class + contental origin + occupation) can go drink a hate speech cocktail while the White Protestant Sex Addicts (race + religious affiliation + disease) who frequent and
          • Re:Who'd a Thunk? (Score:5, Interesting)

            by smallfries ( 601545 ) on Thursday June 29, 2017 @12:48AM (#54710153) Homepage

            Its much easier than that as their rules are logically inconsistent. I am not allowed to say "Women are shit", as it is a protected class. But both "women drivers are shit" and "women non-drivers are shit" are allowed as aubsets are not protected. So "Woman (both those that drive and those that don't) are shit" should get in, and "All Americans (apart from my mate Bob) are cunts" should pass their filter just fine.

        • Well, that's ProRepublica for you.. and Gizmodo is buying into and passing along their SJW spin.

  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 28, 2017 @05:27PM (#54707891)

    The reason for the headline is that "children" is not a protected category, while skin color and gender both are.

    It's entirely about the words.
    "white men" are protected exactly as much as "black men" or "white women" or "black women", because both the noun and the adjective refer to protected categories.

    "black children" are protected, likewise, just as much as "white children" or "white adults" or "black adults"-- the second word in the phrase is not a protected category.

    • by omnichad ( 1198475 ) on Wednesday June 28, 2017 @05:30PM (#54707945) Homepage

      Misleading all around. But "black children" shouldn't be protected less than simply "black" but it appears to be the case in the article.

      • by GuB-42 ( 2483988 )

        Black children have two attributes : "black" and "child".
        They are not protected from attacks against their "child" attribute, only against their "black" attribute.

        Blacks only have single attribute, which is protected, and therefore are totally protected.

        That's the reasoning.
        In reality however, humans have many, many attributes, and only a few of them are protected, so attacks are possible on anyone. People are not totally defined by their race and gender, thankfully.

    • by Rockoon ( 1252108 ) on Wednesday June 28, 2017 @05:50PM (#54708109)
      The whole concept of "protected class" is bereft of morality...
      • by Boronx ( 228853 )

        To people who don't know what it means. The idea of protecting white people over blacks or vice versa is bereft of morality, but the idea of protecting people from discrimination based on race is not.

      • The whole concept of "protected class" is bereft of morality...

        No, that's just bullshit. Facebook does many things wrong, not wanting race based attacks all over their site is not one of them.

    • by ganjadude ( 952775 ) on Wednesday June 28, 2017 @05:52PM (#54708133) Homepage
      "All white people are racist. Start from this reference point, or you've already failed,"

      is quite a bit different than

      a U.S. congressman wrote a Facebook post in which he called for the slaughter of "radicalized" Muslims. "Hunt them, identify them, and kill them," declared U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, a Louisiana Republican. "Kill them all. For the sake of all that is good and righteous. Kill them all."

      one is racist (ALL whites) and one is talking about "radical" islam, meaning the people we are actually at war with, ISIS and other groups

      it makes perfect sense why one of them, while still pretty harsh, isnt to the same level of being racist

      attacking a violent subset vs attacking a group based on their color

      facebook has a problem, but the comparisong isnt quite apples to apples
  • by tietokone-olmi ( 26595 ) on Wednesday June 28, 2017 @05:29PM (#54707925)

    The author goes off the deep end when her ideology comes out somewhere halfway through the summary. To wit, the bit where she decries the disallowing of hate speech against white men in particular, because it's of course not possible to hate-speak against whitey for ~reasons~.

    • by hey! ( 33014 ) on Wednesday June 28, 2017 @06:43PM (#54708491) Homepage Journal

      "Hate speech", at least in US law, isn't just speech that expresses hate; that's Constitutionally protected. Hate speech laws pertain to acts that are already criminal such as vandalism or criminal threats, and incitement of imminent violence.

      In the US it absolutely is possible to commit a hate crime against white men. In fact SCOTUS in a landmark 1993 decision upheld the conviction of black teenagers who assaulted a white teenager under hate crime laws, holding that considering hatred as an aggravating (i.e., complicating) factor in a crime does not violate the First Amendment.

      Now hate speech in particular usually takes the form of groupintimidation. Burning a cross on a lawn isn't just a personal message, it's for the entire group. Since white men are (in most situations) a large and (again in most situations) high status group, it *is* quite difficult to do the intimidating form of hate speech (although not necessarily other kinds like the harassing forms). However it is certainly a logical possibility.

      • by cayenne8 ( 626475 ) on Wednesday June 28, 2017 @07:16PM (#54708677) Homepage Journal

        Now hate speech in particular usually takes the form of groupintimidation. Burning a cross on a lawn isn't just a personal message, it's for the entire group. Since white men are (in most situations) a large and (again in most situations) high status group, it *is* quite difficult to do the intimidating form of hate speech (although not necessarily other kinds like the harassing forms). However it is certainly a logical possibility.

        That's pretty twisted, and is a slippery slope start.

        I mean, that could be used if someone wanted to create an art exhibition of burning crosses, nooses, etc......it is imagery, but with this logic, someone could say it was "hate speech" even if none were intended, because someone claimed it intimidated them or hurt their feelings.

        There should be no such thing as hate speech or hate laws......

        The things they are added to are already illegal.

        It is already illegal to threaten someone.

        It is already illegal to assault, or kill someone.

        Especially the murder one...I mean, the person is dead....what makes it worse if it was due to race? Someone kills a white guy.....dead.

        It is worse if they killed the white guy for his money, or if they killed him for his race?

        Dead is dead....so, no, there should not be "hate crimes". The crime is already against the law.

        • by Boronx ( 228853 )

          "I mean, that could be used if someone wanted to create an art exhibition of burning crosses, nooses, etc"

          As with many crimes, the intent matters.

          "It is worse if they killed the white guy for his money, or if they killed him for his race?"

          Is it worse if they kill him for money, or by accident?

          Is it worse if they kill him for his race, or because they thought he was a threat?

          The end result is the same. Should the punishment be the same?

          • Is it worse if they kill him for money, or by accident?

            Is it worse if they kill him for his race, or because they thought he was a threat?

            The end result is the same. Should the punishment be the same?

            Perhaps I should have been more specific, and said "murder"....although in context, I would have thought you would have understood that as a given....accidental killing and self defense are not murder which is illegal.

            So, the question is....is it worse to murder a white guy for money than it is due to his

            • Exactly. The only way I can see murder NOT being a "hate crime" is a hit-job. Then it's only business. Now the person who hired the hit-man,....
            • by Boronx ( 228853 )

              The only difference between murder and not murder is intent. Within the realm of murder, negligent manslaughter is a less significant crime than murder 1. All determined by intent, not outcome. Do you want to do away with that? Even within First degree homicide, there are aggravating factors that make the crime legally worse, like murder during a robbery, or murder during a kidnapping, including murder for profit.

              So at least in some states, murdering for money gets you worse sentence, just like murderin

          • I think you confuse intent with motivation. Punishment should fit the crime, not the motivation. To do so is a step towards thought crime. I'm not saying it's a slippery slope. I'm saying it's just wrong.

            Murder is the crime of killing someone with intent. Whether I kill someone because they slept with my wife or because I owe them money, it is the same crime. If I kill someone because I hate them for their their race or because of a grudge, why should one act be a hate crime and the other not?

            • by Boronx ( 228853 )

              What's the difference between intent and motivation?

              Murdering someone for sleeping with your wife is not the same crime as murdering someone for money. Usually a profit motive is aggravating, leading to a worse sentence. Crimes of passion are usually charged with lesser homicides. It'll depend whether you plot to kill the guy or just kill him in the heat of the moment.

              Hate crimes are attacks on people because of the type of person they are. They terrorize that type of person. Hate crimes are terrorism

            • Because as long as I don't sleep with anyone's wife or owe money to anyone, I have no reason to fear murders who kill for those reasons. If folks kill someone because they are white, I'm screwed.
            • I think you confuse intent with motivation. Punishment should fit the crime, not the motivation. To do so is a step towards thought crime. I'm not saying it's a slippery slope. I'm saying it's just wrong.

              IF motivation is taken out of the question, then murdering someone for their money versus killing someone in self defense are both equally bad crimes. A person got killed, the difference is the difference in motivation of the person doing the killing.

              Also, are you familiar with the term "mens rea"?

    • This isn't the deep end anymore, this is the new normal.

      In the past 20 years, Critical Race Theory has become the dominant philosophy in the Humanities in higher education. It is based on the idea that everything is a power struggle between classes, much like Marxism, except that the classes are divided by race and gender lines instead of economics. Individuals do not matter. Your defining characteristics are your skin color and your gender.

      Racism has been re-defined to mean power + prejudice. Since white m

      • Now wait a minute, I was in college 20 years ago, and I was never taught this. Not even in that one "cultural pluralism" class you are required to take, which seemed to be the only thing keeping the anemic Ethnic Studies department in existence.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by malkavian ( 9512 )

      Male drivers is also not protected. And statistically, males make up a greater proportion of the accidents, that's why the insurance premiums used to be smaller for women in the UK, until sex discrimination laws disallowed that, and made insurance companies charge the same as for male drivers.. Have to hate it when ideology trumps reality (I'm male, and was all for keeping the female discount, as that's exactly what reality was showing).

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • SJW (Score:2, Insightful)

    It must be very complicated trying to live as a SJW. I prefer just being nice to people.
  • by guruevi ( 827432 ) on Wednesday June 28, 2017 @05:53PM (#54708135)

    First of all, the article makes it seem like whites are protected while blacks aren't. That isn't the case, everyone in a group gets equal rights to censorship.

    However this is a clear example of Simpson's Paradox, if you split up your sample set enough, you get contradictory results.

    This is a direct result of SJW demands for censorship with a healthy dose of discrimination, you get a patchwork of rules that is neither based on word of law or common sense and can be cut and paste to fit pretty much every model.

    You can boil down and extend every SJW argument using the same logic and see that what they are asking for is not protection but discrimination.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by TheNarrator ( 200498 )

      What SJW want is to use their victim status to seize power and make whatever rules they feel like at the moment. An algorithm can't give them what they want because they don't want something that has limits and rules, they only want absolute, aribitrary power that doesn't have to explain itself consistently.

  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 28, 2017 @05:55PM (#54708161)

    Seriously, this is taking the example way out of context. It's a perfect example of training material giving examples that on the surface seem legitimate and the having the less obvious example be the right answer. The example is done to prove a point and make people pay attention to detail. When talking about "protected" in today's world, everyone thinks of anything but white men. That's the point here. The right answer of an entire race is hiding with subsets of a gender and race.

    Had they shown a picture of black people, one of a white woman store clerk and one of white kids, people would have just chosen the picture of black people and not ever thought of why they did. To teach, you need to provoke thought, not just make it easy to select the right answer without knowing why.

  • Didi Delgado, whose post stating that “white people are racist” was deleted, has been banned from Facebook so often that she has set up an account on another service called Patreon, where she posts the content that Facebook suppressed. In May, she deplored the increasingly common Facebook censorship of black activists in an article for Medium titled “Mark Zuckerberg Hates Black People.”

    You don't have to be white to be a racist.

  • ... that this is legit Facebook training material because ......?

    Seriously, consider the source.

  • And the obligatory theme song https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
  • The protected category of race includes black children and white men.

  • ...is to speak honestly. Now I don't have to debate or wonder whether the OP is insane. They cut straight to the end. See, our culture is getting more efficient every year!

    Thank you.

  • On Ars Technica, the headline is: Facebook’s secret rules mean that it’s ok to be anti-Islam, but not anti-gay
  • Honestly, FB is in a no-win situation and should go hardcore for the First Amendment (which exists specifically to protect unpopular and/or offensive speech) and just be hands off with user content unless there are threats of violence or encouragements of harming one'self or another or violating the laws in the US... The race card in general and hate speech specifically is subjective and the term is already abused routinely by the fascist progressives on a daily basis.

  • It seems to me the choice of examples is intended to show Facebook is racist. But in my opinion it fails to do so. Their rules may be stupid, but if applied consistently they are not racist. Example: White men is protected, but Black Children is not. Ok. Question. Is Black men protected? I assume so, if I understand the Facebook rules correctly. Is White children protected? Again, if I understand the Facebook rules correctly, then the answer is no. So what do we have: white children. Not protected. black
  • The obvious solution is to keep adding protected classes. Of course the end result of that will be that everybody falls into a protected class, effectively making hate speech towards anybody off-limits. That means we'd all have to be nice to each other, or stop using FaceBook. Either way works for me.

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