Facebook Just Forced Its Most Powerful Critics Offline

Surprise, surprise: you're not allowed to make a "board" and call it "Real Facebook Oversight Board" without Facebook's permission.

In the battle between Facebook and journalists, I am increasingly on Facebook's side. The breathlessness of these articles is starting to resemble parody.

My understanding of these journalists is theyre trying to pressure facebook to censor people on FB's platform, usually political opponents. It's wrong that anyone should have their domain ripped like that because a large company willed it, but there is no self awareness they are being given the same treatment they want to impose on others.

And as far as censorship goes, its completely non obvious that Facebook's Oversight Board is completely different than the Real Facebook Oversight Board. As chair of Real Vice Oversight Board, they're ethically in the wrong even if they shouldn't be censored.

They should've called it an Unofficial Facebook Oversight Board. Ultimately it was their own service provider (ISP SupportNation) who made the judgment call to disconnect a customer — not FB.

Thanks to Facebook and the Streisand Effect, I'm aware of the Real Facebook Oversight Board and now following its efforts.

Why blame Facebook here instead of the ISP that disconnected the website for a stupid reason?

Key quote: “The most extraordinary thing about this whole affair is how it's exposed the total Trumpification of Facebook's corporate comms,” Cadwalladr told VICE News. “There is a brazen shamelessness at work here. It's not just that a company that has used 'free speech' as a protective cloak would go after our ISP and drive us off the internet but that its official spokesman responds to such criticism by attacking and trolling journalists.”