Facebook Struggling With Free Speech, Cyberbullies

Figuring out where to draw the line between free speech and harassment is hard enough for the government; it's even more difficult for Facebook. In recent months, the social network has found itself on the fulcrum of many high-profile free speech debates, ranging in topics from controversial cartoons to cyberbullying to Wikileaks. Through it all, Facebook's 'hate and harassment' team has tried to rule according to a consistent policy, but it hasn't been able to avoid harsh criticism.

Cyberbullying is a particularly thorny issue. When a group of users began insulting and threatening an 11-year-old girl who had appeared in a music video, the girl's mother demanded that the page be taken down. Facebook's terms of service, however, explicitly allow for users to criticize public figures. Because the girl was in a music video, the company said, she had already become a public figure. (Comments threatening violence against the girl were eventually taken down.)

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Facebook Struggling With Free Speech, Cyberbullies originally appeared on Switched on Mon, 13 Dec 2010 12:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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