Publishing certain words on Facebook can lead you to suspension, no matter the context. Nudity? Even your elbows can be the source of censorship.

Some songs that are critical in nature of political or religious topics, posted originally on YouTube, can also cause suspension if posted on Facebook. The company says they respect democracy and freedom of speech. That may be true, but their rules for what can and cannot be posted are shady at best.

Facebook is an online platform for billions of people, whose users sometimes do not realize that by using the app they are using the internet. In developing countries, the common practice of zero rating, when a carrier provider allows its clients to access certain services, such as Facebook’s WhatsApp without consuming their internet data, further helps to perpetuate the myth that Facebook is the internet in itself. People never need to leave Facebook or its subsidiaries. Public discourse ends up gated within Facebook’s walls, which by default becomes a guardian of democracy.

Should Facebook be a gatekeeper of democracy and freedom of speech?

Full article at Newsweek’s website. Date of publication: 11/03/2021.