Facebook highlights hate post by an Indian against French President Emmanuel Macron

Kaveesha Fernando

CALIFORNIA, America (CWBN)_  The case of a Facebook user from India who called for violence against French President Emmanuel Macron following his recent stance with regards to Islam was highlighted by the Facebook Oversight Board.

The oversight board is an independent body looking into hate and other harmful content on the social media platform. The board announced its first cases earlier this week.

The board was set up by Facebook to advise the social media giant on how to filter content effectively – allowing for freedom of speech while also ensuring the safety and standards of the platform are met.

Selected cases will be reviewed by the board and their opinions will be binding upon Facebook unless enacting such decisions would cause legal issues.

A statement by the oversight board explained the incident in question. “A user posted a photo in a Facebook group, depicting a man in leather armour holding a sheathed sword in his right hand. The photo has a text overlay in Hindi that discusses drawing a sword from its scabbard in response to “infidels” criticizing the prophet. The photo includes a logo with the words “Indian Muslims” in English. The accompanying text, also in English, includes hashtags calling President Emmanuel Macron of France “the devil” and calling for the boycott of French products,” read the statement’s description of the incident.

The statement went on to add that Facebook removed the content for violating its policy on violence and incitement, but that Facebook found it difficult to draw the line in the case because the user’s ability to express their religious beliefs needed to be weighed against a potential threat of real-world violence, and doing so was difficult in this instance. The fact that the post referred to a specific person (Macron) weighed heavily into Facebook’s decision.

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