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Meta Blocks President Lula's Facebook Page, Campaign Ads 2 Weeks from Election

471 points · 303 comments · rbanffy

  1. abroszka33 · · focus · HN ↗
    I hope Lula wins and they will ban Facebook for good after the elections. This is an attack on Brazil’s sovereignty.
    1. tryauuum · · focus · HN ↗
      nothing good usually comes out of governments censoring internet
      1. ben_w · · focus · HN ↗
        In this case, the unelected leadership of Facebook is apparently censoring the free speech of a political candidate.

        I don't really know anything about Lula (I wouldn't have known this was Brazil if it wasn't explicitly mentioned, I only know from the Wikipedia page 30 seconds ago that their full name is Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and "Lula" is a nickname), so I can't say if they're "fine" or "evil", but one does not simply get to disregard the implications of censorship (of anyone, let alone a political party) when it happens to be done by a private corporation.

        Especially when it's a foreign private corporation that's already deeply suspicious for political interference in multiple nations, as Meta is.

        1. bakugo · · focus · HN ↗

          [dead]

          1. ModernMech · · focus · HN ↗
            You’re conflating the first amendment with free speech generally. They are different (related) concepts. The person you’re replying to did not appeal to the first amendment.
            1. bakugo · · focus · HN ↗
              I'm not conflating anything, I'm simply repeating what I was told hundreds of times in the past by others in their defense of social media censorship, such as when Twitter banned Trump. So, is it different now?
              1. rpgbr · · focus · HN ↗
                Are you aware that US laws don't apply in other countries?
                1. ericmay · · focus · HN ↗
                  Well sometimes they do. Plus if another country is regulating or doing something to a company from your country I think it’s fair to have an opinion about it.

                  Plus a number of folks use the universality of their preferred politics when another country does something they like or don’t like. “International law”, “rules-based order”, those sorts of things. It’s pretty common to see.

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