Facebook Says It Is Censoring Content Surrounding Brazil Riots

This week, Facebook announced that it will be cracking down on content that supports or praises anti-democratic rioters who ransacked government buildings in Brazil over the weekend. In scenes that mirrored the chaos at the US Capitol two years ago on January 6, tens of thousands of demonstrators supporting the previous Brazilian president took to the streets in an attempt to overthrow the country’s recently elected government.

Notably, Facebook and other social media companies were heavily criticized for not doing enough to prevent the violence at the Capitol in 2021. That might be why the company is taking such an aggressive stance now against these rioters.

“In advance of the election, we designated Brazil as a temporary high-risk location and have been removing content calling for people to take up arms or forcibly invade Congress, the Presidential palace and other federal buildings,” a Facebook spokesperson told Reuters. “We are also designating this as a violating event, which means we will remove content that supports or praises these actions… We are actively following the situation and will continue removing content that violates our policies.”

Facebook is certain to be criticized again over this policy, this time for overstepping its bounds. However, at least this proves that the company has learned lessons from one of its most glaring past mistakes.




Recommended Resources

bitdefender Choose what the experts use: award-winning cybersecurity you can trust and rely on.

PIA Surf the web truly incognito. Try Bitdefender Premium VPN, the ultra-fast VPN that keeps your online identity and activities safe from hackers, ISPs and snoops.

System Mechanic 14 – Make your computer run like new. Winner of 200+ Editor’s Choice awards!

Facebook Weighs Free Speech Concerns In Lifting Ban On Former President Trump Previous post Facebook Weighs Free Speech Concerns In Lifting Ban On Former President Trump Facebook Announces It Will Restrict Access To Teens’ Data Next post Facebook Announces It Will Restrict Access To Teens’ Data