Facebook has generated more than a hundred pages for U.S.-designated terrorist groups like Islamic State and Al Qaeda, giving greater visibility to organizations involved in real-world violence.

TTP’s investigation adds to growing questions about how the major tech platforms facilitate terrorist organizing and recruitment.

Under a key internet law, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, tech companies are not legally responsible for what users post on their platforms.

Because Facebook itself is creating these pages—and is not simply hosting them on its platform—the company may not be able to rely on Section 230 to shield it from lawsuits over the content.

ISIS has long been known for its heavy reliance on social media to spread propaganda, recruit supporters, and expand its reach. As TTP’s new investigation shows, the group is getting a regular assist from Facebook, which has generated more than 100 pages for the terrorist organization and its regional offshoots.

Despite repeated warnings over the years about this problem, Facebook hasn’t taken any discernible steps to stop generating terrorist pages, which violate its own content policies and raise legal liability questions for the company.

  • sj_zero
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    fedilink
    11 year ago

    Imagine: Facebook thinks ISIS is so good that they’ll create the pages for them, but they think “guy who isn’t sure he actually lost election” is so dangerous he needs to be banned for years.