Voice of The Voiceless: The Untold Stories of Girls and Women of War

Africa Mi Tierra is *sole manager* of the FB page Voice of the Voiceless: The Untold Stories of Girls and Women of War. "For the last few days FB will not allow me to post any content on the page, saying I don't have permission to view my own page. I have reported it. But I do NOT think it is a FB glitch. I think it is intentional because of the subject matter. Can you help in any way, or have any ideas on what I can do. I would be most grateful. I will not be silenced. Women's lives depend on that. Thank you."

"This Is An Open Message That FACEBOOK Will No Longer Allow Me To Post Any Content To My Own Page That I Manage Below. IT HAS BEEN REPORTED AND THEY ARE VIOLATING MY CIVIL LIBERTIES, MOST LIKELY DUE TO THE SUBJECT MATTER OF MY PAGE !!! FB BE WARNED THAT I HAVE AN ATTORNEY ON ONE LINE, AND THE ACLU ON THE OTHER !!! THIS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED !!!!

THEY SAY I DON'T HAVE PERMISSION TO MY OWN PAGE !!!!"

Please support Africa by 'liking' her page, Voice of The Voiceless: The Untold Stories of Girls and Women of War, and sharing posts.

Facebook Has an Incest Problem - Trigger warning

This extraordinarily creepy post is still up despite many complaints to Facebook.

Facebook responded:

We reviewed your report of Kinky Geeks of Chicago's photo

Thank you for taking the time to report something that you feel may violate our Community Standards. Reports like yours are an important part of making Facebook a safe and welcoming environment. We reviewed the photo you reported for containing nudity and found it doesn't violate our Community Standards.

There is not a good way to report posts like this.  When I tried to report it myself, I listed my grievance as "This is pornography", which Facebook describes as "includes nudity, sexual arousal, sexual acts, individuals soliciting sex."  After I was told the post did not violate their community standards,  I then tried to report it as "something else"  I chose "bodily harm" of which Facebook includes "graphic injury, bodily harm or  animal abuse or torture. (Not abuse or torture of women or girls - abuse or torture of animals). I can't think of anything that does more bodily harm than incest. Incest is it's own horrendous form of torture. When another woman wrote to the page itself, asking them to take the picture down, she was given this reply: "There is nothing wrong or hurtful about it. Sometimes a grown woman needs the comfort from a man that a father figure would give. this says nothing about age and appropriate boundaries are met. There is no pedophilia here. There is no abuse. There is nothing pornographic either. All it talks about is comfort, love, and security. For the record, a "little" is an adult of consenting age that pretends to be younger. We do not promote abuse to women or children. This is between consenting adults. If you can give a real and valid reason for it's removal I would be glad to remove it. Until then go get a good hug and feel the love...." I have posted about Incest  promoting pages on Facebook before.   Many pages have since been removed, but there are others still up including, but by no means limited to: Family Incest Lovers - which actually says, "Just for fun" Incest Stories - which promises to report your Facebook account as fake if you report them Incest Roleplay Incesto-30 Incesto-real Incest Sister as well as multiple private incest-promoting groups. Perhaps Facebook should read Mia Fontaine's chilling Atlantic piece, America has an incest problem. It seems that Facebook has an incest problem, too.

'Origin of the World': Photographer Ana Alvarez-Errecalde has been Censored Again

"Last Wednesday Libe li shared one of my photographs of the project "Cesárea Beyond the Wound". It was the Photograph that made reference to the "Origin of the World" of Coubert. Several people shared their entry. Today is the photograph is no longer, and my writing has also a disappeared.
Whoever has my heart is so poor, to advocate the censorship that please me away from your friends list." - Ana Alvarez-Errecalde, translated from the original comment in Spanish

More details from Ana:

"Some people shared the photo and I even re-posted it with a statement along the following lines:

Coubert´s painting stated that the "Origin of the World" was desire and his painting was considered pornographic at the time. With my photo I like to bring attention that even if "the origin" could be understood as desire, nowadays it is not just a sexual desire but also a desire to control, a desire to have power over women and their vital cycles, an economic and biopolitical statement reflected in the always raising amounts of cesarean interventions performed daily and the common disrespectful experience that women encounter while giving birth.

 

My post disappeared without warning. All the shares of my friends' posts (with or without a new introductory text) were gone."

 

Gustave Couber, 1874-77
 

"I am fed up with the paternalistic restrictions imposed against women who do not accept to comply. I have seen a Facebook page called "putitas" (little whores) that was offering young girls for male viewer´s enjoyment. There are zillions of pages like these one (+175,900 likes and FB doesn´t care?)

 

https://www.facebook.com/somosadolescenteslol

https://www.facebook.com/PutasBuenotas

https://www.facebook.com/putitas.esmeraldenas?fref=ts
 

Any image of women exposing themselves to denounce violence (being obstetric violence, restrictions of freedom - like breastfeeding in public or making public a private moment) or for  the sake of their own enjoyment is punished. I know social media mirrors society but maybe if we bring upon positive changes in the virtual world we can enjoy a bit more freedom and respect in the real one." -Ana Alvarez-Errecalde

You can see Ana's groundbreaking work on her website. Facebook removed her photography page over a year ago and will not reinstate it.

Removed: Award-winning artist Aleah Chapin's Facebook Page

Aleah Chapin has a new exhibition at the Flowers Gallery in London Photo: Antonio Parente 2014

The Facebook fan page for artist Aleah Chapin was shut down several days ago for violating Facebook's community standards. The page had more than 8,000 'likes' and was growing in popularity with her recent London exhibit.

Facebook's community standards read:

Facebook has a strict policy against the sharing of pornographic content and any explicitly sexual content where a minor is involved. We also impose limitations on the display of nudity. We aspire to respect people’s right to share content of personal importance, whether those are photos of a sculpture like Michelangelo's David or family photos of a child breastfeeding.

Chapin's work has been all over Facebook in recent weeks. A blurb from a recent Telegraph article explains her work, which is certainly comparable to The David in my mind.

"Chapin’s work has also shone a light on the subject of body image.

“Most women have issues and I’m not immune to that,” says Chapin. “We’re told that our bodies are supposed to be a ‘certain height, certain size, certain weight’. But the pictures we see are completely unrealistic; they’re very Photoshopped.

“We all know it when we look at them in magazines and yet, we still compare ourselves.

“That’s why we need images that show all sorts of bodies – so we can accept every size and shape.”

This attitude is why her work resonates. We may not recognise the individuals depicted in paint, but we recognise them as people"

You can read more about work in this Telegraph article: What Painting Portraits of Naked Women has Taught Me


Update: 2:25PM PST The page is back up.  It was reportedly taken down in "error". Please show the page your support!

By removing photos of childbirth, Facebook is censoring powerful female images

"Birth is a fundamental feminist issue right now - women’s bodies should not be sanitised. Facebook should let us see it as it is."

Great article in The Guardian today by Milli Hill of Positive Birth Movement.

Bare Reality Page Owner Targeted Again

"My personal account has been blocked again - for seven days. This time it's because I shared a photograph from 'Bare Reality' of a 101 year old woman who has had a mastectomy. Yet photographs of mastectomies are supposed to be permitted by ...Facebook. This is another instance of Facebook applying it's own rules inconsistently - it smacks of sexism and this time age discrimination as well. A photograph of a younger woman with a mastectomy is still up. Is an old woman's remaining breast unacceptable?

I'm not sure why anyone who finds photographs of breasts and mastectomies offensive is visiting this page. Secondly, why are they so offended by an image of that incredible woman's body?

I think the same person keeps reporting me because I detect the same officious tone in the 'different' anonymous accounts used on Facebook and Twitter. Interestingly, Facebook requires me to send them government-issued ID to prove my identity, while the people who report hide behind 'fake' identities. Officious reporter - get a life please?"

Please support the Bare Reality page.

Former Facebook Employee Launches Women.Com, The Internet’s First Women-Only Social Network by Carolyn Cox

Recent events have shown that the Internet is a safe and inclusive space for all women (JK, LOL, AHOO-HOO-HAH-HAH). Thankfully, former Facebook employee Susan Johnson has launched Women.com, a question-driven social media site that may make that dream as close to a reality as possible—and considering her aspirations for the platform, I couldn’t be more excited.

Women.com is still in an invite-only beta stage (you can request to join via Twitter. I’m hoping to check out the party soon), and, much like Yahoo Answers, is a forum where users can pose questions and then upvote results. However, unlike the anonymous respondents on Yahoo, a Women.Com account links back to the user’s Facebook. This way members have some accountability even when accessing a more private platform than Facebook to pose tricky questions. (Slate’s article on Women.com lists a sample question as “Friend’s husband is cheating. Do I say something?” Not necessarily a question you want on your wall, unless the answer is definitely “yes.”)

Read more here.

Article about Book Destigmatizing Breasts Filtered Out for Showing… Breasts By Soraya Chemaly

The piece below was published in The Guardian today by Ruth Lewy. Facebook is barring shares using the Guardian links. They are reviewing the problem, but until then I’m posting this here for Laura, the creator of the project, as an alternative link so that it can be shared.

These interviews are edited excerpts from Laura Dodsworth’s project Bare Reality. She is fundraising for a book of the project; visit kickstarter.com and search for Bare Reality.

Read more here.

My Personal Facebook page has been disabled by Facebook

This is all the information I have at the moment. I will appeal.

Update: I went through the "appeal" process, which required me to identify very random pictures of my friends on Facebook, some of which were completely identifiable. After "passing", I received another notice. Several other admins on The Girl God page received this notice as well.






This is referring to the Lucy Hilmer series of photographs posted to The Girl God page last week.


"For 40 years, I've photographed myself on my birthday wearing nothing but my white Lollipop underpants, shoes and socks. I made my first Birthday Suit self-portrait in Death Valley, CA in 1974.

Without fail, I’ve faced my camera every April 22nd since then to create a coded history of one woman’s journey through time.

As a girl-child of the 1950s, I came of age before women’s lib, and wanted to buck the stereotypes of a culture that branded me a pretty girl, thin enough to be a fashion model and not much more. Armed with my camera and tripod, I found a way to define myself on my own terms in the most open, vulnerable way I could.

My long-term project will continue for as long as I live. In 2015, I turn 70. I’m currently working on a book & film about my Birthday Suits."





You can see the photographs here.  Apparently, they are not suitable for Facebook.  God forbid they allow anything "beautiful and affirming".

Another @Facebook Page Shut Down #Gaza - @ShehabAgency

It seems that the Shehab Shehab News Agency page with more than 1.2 million fans has disappeared from Facebook.

The page is very important and significant role in the follow-up to the news, transported and moved the global solidarity with # Gaza.

Administrators of the page were first reportedly given a 24 hour ban after posting a picture of a wounded child in Gaza.

The page was reportedly shut down earlier today with no additional warnings or reason.

A new page has been started here. 

More information to follow.

Many thanks to The uprising of women in the Arab world انتفاضة المرأة في العالم العربي‎‎ for alerting me to this situation.

How Many Activist Pages will Facebook Shut Down? #PalestineUnderAttack

It seems Facebook has shut down several other pages of Palestinian activists.  I awoke to the following information via a trusted friend:

"Truth doesn't need to ban anything. Why is this happening? What would happen if a pro-Israeli Facebook page was removed?

"The Muslim Public Affairs Committee page has been banned by Zios, 90,000 members all pro Palestinians and they banned it. Don't let this stand one of the few places that Palestine has a voice is on Facebook, if we allow them to ban Mpac then next they will silence any pro Pal voice. Please, please share on your pages, tweet do what ever but complain to Facebook and get the page reinstated. "

Please sign the petition here to have their page reinstated.

They have also started a new page MPACUK1Ummah

▬▬▬▬▬

Trevor LaBonte, a friend who is very critical of Israel, was banned from Facebook for seven days yesterday. His other account has also been banned for the last 36 hours.

#Gaza #Activists #SaveGaza #Israel #StopIsrael #StopGenocide#Genocide"

▬▬▬▬▬

Image:

Who Rules? - François-Marie Aroue, Voltaire Quote - jpg

Via Mirela Monte - special thanks to Gloria Torres for sharing this with me.

Palestinian Activist and Photographer Hamde Abu's Facebook Page Shut Down

Palestinian Activist and Photographer Hamde Abu had his personal page removed from Facebook today.  I spoke to Hamde today via Skype.  Just to reiterate for those who are worried, Hamde is fine and in good spirits, despite everything.

Approximately 7 hours ago, Hamde was notified that has account had been suspended.  He received the following message.

"Facebook is a community where people use their real identities. We require everyone to provide their real first and last names and real birthday so you always know who you're connecting with. Your account is temporarily suspended because your timeline doesn't list your real name.

To reopen this account, please reply to this email stating your real name (as it would be listed on a government-issued ID like a passport or drivers license). Once we know your real name, we can update your timeline and reactivate your account."

The timing for the removal of his page for those who are following what is happening now in Palestine is suspect.  Facebook did change their rules several months ago, but it was only today that his page was taken down.

One of Hamde's last updates on Facebook: "the latest update from Gaza strip,
86 were killed since the Israeli operation in Gaza ,and more than 550 were reported injured."

Furthermore, it is troubling that activists in parts of the world where they may not want their full identities known are targeted this way.

Hamde told me that he had sent in his Full legal name along with a copy of his passport twice already to Facebook.  As we spoke, he sent me a copy of that same passport and we tried to do it again from my end.

There's no telling when or if his personal page will be restored, but it is concerning that so much of the visual history he has captured, particularly in these last weeks, will not be visible or accessible to anyone.

His Photography page is still up, but he is unable to post there with his personal page suspended. To support Hamde in the interim, please continue to share his photos from that page.

I will continue share updates here as I get them.

The page is still down with no response from Facebook as of Saturday 8pm PST.

Sign the Change.org petition here.

Several other activist pages have also been blocked or banned.  Read more here. 

Hamde's page was restored at approximately 5pm PST on Tuesday, July 15th.

REMOVE ALL PAGES CONTAINING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

Sign the latest petition at change.org.

Gender Identity Watch Facebook's Page Removed

Gender Identity Watch Facebook's page was removed yesterday for "hate speech or symbols".  No specific example of either was given by Facebook.

Response from Pathetic Fallacies

"Porn is okay.

MRA groups are okay.

Misogyny is okay.

Blatant racism is okay.

Critical thinking is bad.

Pro-female groups are bad.

Mmmkay?

One of the only redeeming pages on FB, that I’m aware of, was Gender Identity Watch. No bullshit, pro-woman, interesting, intelligent content.

However, Facebook, in its infinite wisdom, has banned Gender Identity Watch for refusing to cater to the super-special feelings of men, misogynists, and those who think feminism is one big “Kumbaya” sing along.



If you don’t like that this page has been unpublished, if this pisses you off (and it should), do what you can to come down hard on Facebook for removing the page. Social media, especially Facebook, is flooded with violently misogynist content, and yet this page — for and about women — was unpublished. Think about that.

These are Orwellian times, sisters."

Shared from genderidentitywatch.com

A new page has been started at GenderIdentityWatchReloaded

"This is not a hate page. No one here hates you if you don't conform to gender. We support the abolition of gender, as gender is a tool of oppression (femininity) used against women."


UPDATE: New page has also been removed.

The Age of censorship.

"This is the fourth time that Facebook has censored Dublin SaysNo. 

The last time they said it was a mistake. When they put the page back online it had a reach of 300 before they censored it, it had a reach of half a million. 

It's not surprising after starting the meter protests in Dublin 9 weeks ago and watch as they have spiraled to a national level that they would again come after us. 

We have continued to support everyone protesting and used our page to get everyone's story out there as the media has been bought and sold by Government sympathizers.

While Facebook blocks pages that stand up to corrupt Governments they actively help and accept money that is used to grow pages that contain, Bestiality, child porn, extreme violence, bullying etc.

Facebook is dead.

Dublin says no will not be silenced.

Dublin says no is not about a page. Dublin says no is about the people who refuse to give up the fight for their future and their children's future."

Shared from DublinSaysNo in solidarity.

#FreeTheNipple

"It's time to test Facebook's new breastfeeding policy. Facebook: You say you allow breastfeeding mothers to share their photos without cropping out their nipples? Prove it. Let this stay up and see how many thousands of people see it and share it.

We are proud to nourish our babies with our breasts and we will not be shamed for it. We will share our special/difficult/funny/priceless breastfeeding moments with our friends, families, and community and we
will not to told to keep them to ourselves. Enough with the shaming of women. We are mothers and we are strong. We are equal.

#FreeTheNipple

Read more about the policy change on Soraya Chemaly's article on The Huffington Post."

via Truthie Betold

Now on Facebook: Syrian refugee brides

"We all know it happens in real life, and now it’s up on Facebook: “Syrian refugees for marriage.” The page has been live for five days, posting photos and statuses about Syrian refugee women “across the Arab world, of all ages and religions – share this page!”

Read full article here.

"Elliot Rodger is a Hero": - how many pages like this will spring up on Facebook?

Seven people murdered in a hate crime targeted at women and someone already made a Facebook page: "Elliot Rodger is a Hero".

I wonder how many of these will spring up and whether Facebook will remove them?

The page states:

"This page is a tribute to a real American hero."

Pierce Ayanami Smith wrote on the page:
"He didn't let them suffer enough. The victims all either died nearly instantly, or will survive. Not good enough, if you ask me. They need to be tortured, for hours on end, knowing with certainty that their death will be coming, but not permitted to get it until their bodies absolutely cannot take any more physical pain."

Here's more:

Elliot Rodger - Forever Friendzoned

Elliot Rodger Rest In Peace

Elliot Rodger's Retribution

Feel free to comment with more pages below.

Meanwhile, it looks like the only post from A Voice for Men today is:

Update: the first page is down - many more are still up.

MRA's have created Elliot Rodger page, crying about Misandry.

And this gem, with a post with what appears to be Rodger as a child that says:

"Think for a sec if one of the women that turned him down put out for him once. Then all of this could have been prevented. People need to do their duty for humanity."

New one: Elliot Rodger is an American hero blames feminists:

"Feminists, whether you like it or not, you are the cause of this incident.
You have empowered women to essentially bully and reject people, and in this case it would seem that this happened to some poor kid with Autism.

A generation of self important narcissistic cows have been raised rather than the nicer ladies of the previous generations. Who's fault is that? That's the feminist's fault."

More articles:

Facebook refuses to take down hate speech page memorializing killer Elliot Rodger

"Shoutout to my boy elliot rodger. He did the best thing us men could do. And paid the ultimate price. Let his death be a memorial day in which we hate against the subhuman species called women."

Facebook said this didn't violate their policies (Warning, GRAPHIC)

This came up on my Twitter feed this morning.  The woman who reported it said, "I blocked out her face so she couldn't be identified, but she was crying."

''Men With Boobs': Argentine women reject Facebook's Double-standard of Censorship

"In order to call attention to the "macho censorship" that exists around Facebok, a group of Argentine women began a campaign to protest about, after the manager of the "Girl Power" page was censored at various times after publishing your own photos or other artistic nudes with.

Flower, a young activist told the local media Veloz Journal that "got a photo of Frida Kahlo where he saw the nipple and I erased it. The same thing happened with an artistic picture of my profile. We campaign against that and I deleted the Facebook page ".

In response they created "Campaign against censorship" which is to convert different images of topless women and male breasts cuts to raise awareness of inequality in Facebook when restricting private images.

Activists argue that "we know that men's nipples are not the same as women's nipples, because they meet another function, Facebook but not censure human body when not remove photos or pages where graphic violence shown, pedophilia, sexism and misogyny is a despicable act and we want to express ourselves against this ".

Read more here and see more of the pictures from the campaign.

A Win for the Masculinists

I'm so glad Facebook took down all those scary feminist pages and pictures so pages like Masculinist India can stay up!

Facebook's "Community Standards". Enough said.

The page above was set up to harass Amanda Todd and her family even after her death. It appears to have been started about a year ago.

This page was formerly known as IPOATG (I Piss On Amanda Todd's Grave)

The first post says, "This is old news, but still hilarious. Our page may be small now, but given time it will grow. Tell us, what kind of content would you like to see now that we've returned?"

UPDATE: After lots of angry tweets today, the page has finally been removed.

Is FB cracking down on fake accounts or just harassing feminist women?

Desiree "Equal Rights" Jordan was forced to remove "EqualRights" from her name on her Facebook profile.

Desiree responded: "I have no idea why or how they are instituting this 'change". All I know is I went to sign in and FB prompted me to secure my "real identity" by identifying a few of my friend from a list of pics... and refused to let me put the "ER"in my name....very unnerving....I just find it real SKETCHY that FB make me remove my "EqualRights" when they allow pages like "OBAMA MUST DIE" to stay up!!!!!!! ... I feel violated and silenced and coerced! I had to virtually lose the EqualRights in my name IF I want to stay in FB! ...So far I know of three women who were also forced to change their middle names."

Birth Censored Again

Photographer Ana Alvarez-Errecalde has been censored again on Facebook for posting a picture of herself at her photography exhibit behind her home birth photos.

According to Alvarez-Errecalde, This photo was posted over a year ago, and the photos were not accessible to anybody as the page was already censored and unpublished by Facebook.

Alvarez-Errecalde has been blocked from posting for 12 hours.

FACEBOOK REMOVES PICTURE OF LESBIANS KISSING

The social media giant says the picture violated its community standards yet many homophobic pages remain online. 

Read the full story here.

Oh, the irony!

Meanwhile....pages like Just say sorry and we will leave you alone, aimed at child safety activist Jay Marshall  of The Global Alliance Against Minor Exploitation (G.A.M.E.) are allowed to exist with impunity.

"We know everything. You know nothing.
Say sorry and cease and desist."

Why aren't the standards the same? What are the standards???

Radical feminist activist Cathy Brennan has been blocked from posting to Facebook for 30 days, due to posting a music video that was found offensive.

Often accused of 'hate speech' or 'transphobia', Brennan has received numerous 30 and 60 day bans from Facebook. Even if you happen to believe this is true (which I don't), the ban begs the question, why are so pages that host extreme woman-hating, anti-antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, etc., up without repercussions from Facebook?  Shouldn't everyone be held to the same standard?

It would be interesting to see the stats on how many male-hosted pages are banned or blocked and how many women-hosted pages are.  Based on my loose research these past few years, as documented on this blog, I'd say women are much more likely to be punished by Facebook.

Will Facebook shut down 'The Girl God' page?

I woke up this morning to multiple warnings from Facebook about my page.

For those who don't know my history with Facebook, it started when I wrote Does Facebook Hate All Women - or Just Feminists? back in November 2012.  It escalated after co-founding Rapebook in protest, resulting and rape and death threats against me, my children and other admins of the page.

Over the years, I've seen a lot of  pretty nasty stuff on Facebook. Much of it has been documented on this blog. Child trafficking, child pornography and violent threats against women remain while pictures of mastectomy scars, birth and women breastfeeding are removed.  If you want to have a better idea of what I saw with my own eyes last year, click here. (Trigger Warning)

To my knowledge, none of the people who threatened me on Facebook ever had their pages removed.  So I found this morning's warnings about my 'abusive' content quite interesting.

Um, where's the post that violated standards?

The last pop up message I received said,

Hello,

A post you made contains content that violates our Terms of Use. This message serves as a warning. Additional violations will result in the termination of your account. Please read our Terms carefully and refrain from posting abusive material in the future. Thanks in advance for your understanding and cooperation.

The Facebook Team

I've sent several messages to Facebook, as have other members of my page. So far, no response. I'd love to know what 'abusive content' has ever been posted to my page. Please check it out and tell me what I'm missing.

UPDATE: Looks like the page is safe (for now) thanks to help from someone who would like to remain nameless.  Will keep you posted.  Thanks to everyone for your support!

Facebook Protest scheduled June 1, 2014

Cesarean Birth Photo reported for graphic violence on Facebook.

Radical feminist activist Cathy Brennan was reported for violating Facebook's "Community Standards" for posting a picture of her c-section birth.  Apparently BIRTH is now a threat to the public safety and/or depicts harm to someone.  

                                 Do birth photos violate Facebook's community standards?

Shame on Facebook

Good resource on inappropriate FB content that they won't take down, for instance, the inappropriate child video with horrific comments last week that was shared by thousands before it was finally removed. 


http://shameonfacebook.tumblr.com/

There's no place to hide from justice

Internet trolls in the UK were warned yesterday that there's no place to hide from justice, and they can expect arrest if they threatened or abused people online. 

Culture secretary Maria Miller said that the same rules would be applicable online as well as off and stressed that just because people engaged in this behaviour over the internet,  it wasn't a lawless zone.

Speaking at the Oxford Media Convention, Miller said: "Whether it is images of child abuse or terrorist material we will use the full force of the law, both national and international, to take down that content and pursue the perpetrators.  If you are vilely insulted, or threatened to attack someone in person on the street, you do so expecting to be arrested and charged.  The same applies to social media."

The government has been cracking down hugely on online trolls, with over 2000 people prosecuted last year.

Read Full article here.

Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood: Why We Turned Down $290,000

$290,000. That’s a ton of money for a small nonprofit like CCFC—more than 90% of our 2013 budget.

When we were selected to receive that windfall as part of the settlement of a class action lawsuit, we were initially thrilled. CCFC was one of thirteen nonprofit organizations chosen to receive a cy pres award as part of the settlement of the Fraley v. Facebook lawsuit. Among other issues, the lawsuit addressed Facebook’s use of teenagers’ names and images in advertisements without permission from parents.

We knew that all settlements are compromises, but we believed this one would help protect teens on Facebook. But after reading objections from advocacy groups whose work aligns with ours, we began to have doubts. So we consulted an independent firm of consumer protection lawyers to get their expert opinion.

We now believe that this settlement is actually worse than no settlement. It harms vulnerable teenagers and their families under the guise of helping them. Its purported protections are largely illusory and it will actually undermine future efforts to protect minors on Facebook. In fact, it is in direct violation of our mission to help parents raise healthy families by limiting commercial access to children.

For these reasons, we are refusing the money and opposing the settlement. Today we filed a letter to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit urging the court to overturn the settlement and spur the plaintiffs and Facebook to negotiate an agreement that would really protect minors. It’s the first time—ever—an advocacy organization has turned down a cy pres award in order to oppose a settlement.

Here's what you can do to help:

• Share this story from today’s New York Times which details CCFC’s and other advocacy group’s objections to the Facebook settlement.
• Spread the word CCFC about CCFC’s unwavering commitment to children by sharing this email with family and friends. And please share it on Facebook & Twitter, too.
• We’re proud that we steadfastly value children more than the bottom line. And we’re proud of this decision, even though it was costly. We hope that you’re proud, too. Please consider a special donation to CCFC today. 

We recognize that it’s unusual for a small nonprofit like us to turn down such a large sum of money. We could do a lot of good with $290,000. But we choose not to benefit from a settlement which we now realize is harmful to children and will impede future efforts to protect minors’ privacy on Facebook. We will not compromise our integrity, the trust of our supporters, and, especially, the wellbeing of children.

Thanks for you all you do,

Susan Linn & Josh Golin
Director & Associate Director
CCFC

How To See All The Companies That Are Tracking You On Facebook — And Block Them

"Facebook is a great utility if you want to stay in touch with friends and family, share photos, and see what other people are up to in their lives.It's free to use, of course, but that doesn't mean it comes without a price. If you're using Facebook, you're giving the company a ton of information about yourself which it is selling to advertisers in one form or another.

And most people forget that when they download or sign up for an app or website using their Facebook login, that they're giving those companies a direct look into their Facebook profiles and some of their personal data. That can often include your email address and phone number, but frequently also your current location."

Great how-to article by Jim Edwards on Business Insider.  See full article here:

Facebook page is trafficking boys in Pakistan

"Beautiful Teen Boys Of Pakistan" is a Facebook page with over 2,500 likes. Some of these boys look no more than 8-years-old.  The caption on the pictures often says: "Z*** from lahore a Innocent and stylish boy style of beauty ..... if u want friendship with this boy register ur self today and get contact and fb id link info and other details of this boy."

Please report this page to anyone you think can help https://www.facebook.com/pages/Beautiful-Teen-Boys-Of-Pakistan/234868620019613

The CyberTipline is the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's reporting mechanism for suspected child sexual exploitation. To make a report visit www.cybertipline.com.

After reporting this page, Facebook said:

This page wasn't removed

Thank you for taking the time to report something that you feel may violate our Community Standards. Reports like yours are an important part of making Facebook a safe and welcoming environment. We reviewed the page you reported for containing nudity or pornography and found it doesn't violate our Community Standards. If you look at the comments section of the page, you will see that many people have also reported this page to Facebook and received a similar response. If you read through the comments on the pictures of these boys, you will literally lose your lunch. Update 1/27/14: After many people complained to Facebook, they seem to have taken down the page.  Someone forwarded this message: "We reviewed the page you reported for containing credible threat of violence. Since it violated our Community Standards, we removed it. Thanks for your report. We let Beautiful Teen Boys Of Pakistan know that their Page has been removed, but not who reported it. Facebook never discloses who submits a report." However, our work is not done. Pages like this continue to exist and will continue to pop up.

Max Dashu of Suppressed Histories Archives blocked from Facebook for 3 Days

Here is the "offensive" post:

The Senufo "speak at least four distinct languages (Palaka, Dyimini, and Senari in Côte d’Ivoire and Suppire in Mali), which belong to the Gur branch of the Niger-Congo language family. Within each group, numerous subdivisions use their own names for the people and language; the name Senufo is of external origin. They left the internal delta of Niger —around the town of Mopti (Mali)— in the search of good grounds, the Senufos arrived thousand years ago in the area where they currently reside. At the end of last century when the famous mandinka conqueror Samory threatened the country, Senufo, the chief of Korhogo declared: "We are not warriors, but farmers"."

Like the Amazighen (Tuareg), the Senufo women play water drums. The picture shows the magnificent cowrie headdress worn in womanhood initiation ceremonies.

You have to read down this page a ways before they mention that the Senufo are matrilineal have an important women's sacred society, the Sandogo. At first we're only given the impression of marginal female status in the Poro Society: a sodality that west African oral histories describe as having been taken from women by men.

They say, "Maleeo and Kolotyolo ("Ancient Mother" and "Creator God") represent a dualistic deity. Kolotyolo is not approachable and can only be reached through Yiriigifolo or Nyehene. In the region of Kufulo, Maleeo is represented by the sacred drums before whom all thieves and murderers are brought for trial." [url for quotes given in Comments, with more info]

There is a deeper female stratum to Kòlotyölöö, as Anita Glaze illuminates for us: “Central to Senufo religion is the conception of a bipartite deity called Kòlotyölöö in its aspect of divine creator, and Màlëëö or Kàtyelëëö in its aspect of protective, nurturing being.” The last two names mean “Ancient Mother” and “Ancient Woman.” The creator divinity is remote and cannot be approached directly, only through other deities. [“Woman Power and Art in a Senufo Village,” African Arts, Vol 8, No. 3 (Spring, 1975) p 29]

Linguistic indicators points to a shift that masculinized this creator: “There is some evidence to suggest that Kòlotyölöö was originally considered female in nature (työlöö wii, for example, means ‘woman’ or ‘wife’ in Tyebara), although present usage suggests a neuter or even a paternal image.” [Glaze, 64]

Girl God admin banned from Facebook for anti-porn stance

An admin of The Girl God page has been blocked from posting (or even "liking" anything) on Facebook for 12 hours for her anti-porn stance.  Facebook said she was "violating their community standards" and did not respond to her request for review.

The offensive meme was as follows:

Scary stuff.

Glad child porn is still readily available on Facebook and they're out to save us from those "scary feminists".