Group Requests Facebook Censor Anti-Holocaust Groups
July 29, 2011 by admin
Filed under Lingerie Events
Group Requests Facebook Censor Anti-Holocaust Groups
In a controversy testing the parameters of free speech on the social-networking website Facebook, a Los Angeles-based group of Holocaust survivors has asked the site’s administrators to remove “Holocaust denial” groups from its pages.
MSNBC is reporting that a group of Holocaust survivors affiliated with the Simon Wiesenthal Center has sent this imploration to Facebook:
“We, the undersigned, are Holocaust Survivors who saw our parents, children and loved ones brutally murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. We are writing to you to protest Facebook’s policy that categorizes Holocaust denial as “free speech,” rather than the shameless, cynical and hateful propaganda that it is,” the letter read. “Do not permit Holocaust denial any platform on Facebook to preach its inherent message of lies and hate. By allowing this hate propaganda on Facebook, you are exposing the public and, in particular, youth to the anti-Semitism which fueled the Holocaust. Please correct this terrible error in judgment before our generation passes away.”
The Holocaust-denial pages on Facebook follow different trends, from expressing admiration for the S.S. to protesting Israel. One such example, “Holocaust Was Fake,” gives as its description: “The claim that the Jews who died in a systematic manner gives an argument for the necessity of finding a safe haven for Jews in their own state…the need for the existence of the Jewish State of Israel and recognize its right to exist, which means to justify the rape of the Jews of Palestine.”
MSNBC reported that Facebook sent them an email in which the website claimed that despite the nature of the Holocaust-denial pages, they still do not rise to the level of something they would remove. Facebook has removed pages that call for violence against individuals or groups, including removing a page that called for Palestinians to fight Israelis.
“At Facebook, one of the toughest questions we face is how to handle the sharing of controversial ideas and opinions on the site. Recently, there has been a focus on groups created to deny the occurrence of the Holocaust. We find these groups to be repugnant and ignorant, just as we object to some of the other ideas expressed on Facebook,” write spokesman Andrew Noyes. “We have spent considerable time internally discussing the issues of Holocaust denial and have come to the conclusion that the mere statement of denying the Holocaust is not a violation of our terms… However, if the members of the Holocaust denial groups consistently post hateful or threatening comments, we will take the groups down, and we have done so on many occasions… Many of us at Facebook have direct personal connection to the Holocaust, through parents who were forced to flee Europe or relatives who could not escape. We believe in Facebook’s mission that giving people tools to make the world more open is a better way to combat ignorance or deception than censorship, though we recognize that others may disagree.”
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Facebook Users Can Now Connect To 85 Million Neighbors, via Neighborhood …
July 29, 2011 by admin
Filed under Lingerie Events
Palo Alto, CA (PRWEB) July 28, 2011
“Go to where the users are” is the war cry of all Internet services on their way to mass adoption, and Yatown is no exception. The local social networking startup today announced it has launched a Facebook app aptly named “Find-Ya-Neighbor“. The app allows users to find and connect online with over 85 million neighbors in the US.
“This solves an important problem users have been asking about,” said Christopher Nguyen, Yatown CEO. He gave an example, “We hear ‘I want to connect with neighbors on my street to organize a Neighborhood Watch, but I don’t know how to connect with them online, short of knocking on every door and asking for an email address’.”
The Facebook app itself is the model of simplicity. Upon authorizing the app, users are presented with an input box to enter their home address. Within seconds, a phonebook-like directory of their neighbors appear, sorted by distance from home. Neighbors can also be found by name and street. The app does not show the neighbors’ contact information directly. Rather, there is a “Connect” button next to each name, which tells Yatown to contact the neighbor on the user’s behalf.
Yatown has been relentless with its focus on hyperlocal and usefulness. Recently it launched a Neighborhood Deals service which specializes in discounts and offers right around the corner, like neighborhood restaurants. “We’ve completed the ‘Information’ phase of our service rollout, and are now ramping up the ‘Social’ phase,” said Nguyen, adding, “Our users say they love the Yatown Neighborhood News service for bringing them local articles they don’t normally find elsewhere, and now we’re making it easier for neighbors to connect and interact with one another about these articles.”
Yatown, was founded in 2010. With the mission “To Connect Neighbors and Strengthen Communities,” the company aims to help neighbors connect and share information online, with an emphasis on trust and social responsibility. Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and other social networking sites, the service focuses on the hyperlocal neighborhood space. Christopher Nguyen is a former engineering director at Google.
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For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2011/7/prweb8679152.htm