Countries Where Facebook Censors the Most Illegal Content

Facebook on May 15^th issued a biannual report regarding its relationships with the various governments of the world. The report highlights how frequently do the authorities, or private citizens of the groups ask the social giant for the removal of content that violates local laws.

The date covers the second half of 2017, presents a glimpse into how strictly some countries censor online content, distinctly from Facebook’s own moderation efforts. The list is topped by Turkey, whose authoritarian government is known for compressing down the free speech.

The top nations where Facebook took down the illegal content during the span of July-Dec 2017 are as follows:

Facebook informed that the requests came from Turkey’s communication authority, the ministry of health, courts and other government bodies. The content was limited as per Turkey’s Internet Act. The Act covers a wide range of offences which includes personal privacy, personal right violations, unauthorized sales of regulated goods and the defamation of the country’s founder.

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The law which is referred to as the “draconian” by the advocacy group—Human Rights Watch has caused tens to thousands of Turkish websites being barred in present years.

As per Facebook, a bulk of Facebook posts were restricted from Turkey because of private reports regarding defamation.

Mexico is on the second spot because of the single video of a school shooting during the start of last year. Facebook had to remove more than twenty-one thousand clips, where a student shot many others before he killed himself. During the first half of 2017, Facebook had to remove the clips of the video twenty thousand times.

Germany is also positioned high on the list because its constitution bars provocation to hatred. In 2017, a law was introduced in Germany putting larger fines on the internet firms who don’t easily remove content that is considered illegal in the country.

In India and Pakistan, Facebook limited content that violates local laws regarding defamation of blasphemy or defamation, hate speech and “condemnation of the nation’s independence” in Pakistan and “defamation of the state” in India.

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