As with any advent in technology, the ethics that are inherent in the innovation, lag behind and slowly come to light, the more exposure we have to the new technology. It seems the question that Social Media sites are now facing, are what to do with controversial content. As we well know, social media sites have taken on an astounding role in the events in the Middle East, the problem is that some content has viewers worried. There has been significant protest over the Facebook group "The Third Jihad", letters have been written, counter groups have been formed. But does this group violate the terms and agreements of a Facebook account? Is "inciting violence" one of the things you can get shut down for?
In the early years of Facebook, I had no network to join since my high school did not want to acknowledge the existence of such a thing as Facebook, I joined anyway, stating that I was 23 years old and went to Saint Alamo High School. Obviously the age thing was stupid, but I got kicked off after a year or two and they realized I actually went to the local Bais Yaakov. Its ok though, happy ending was that by then you could join a city network. My story isn't that monumental, but for others, like Michael Anti who a journalist who was kicked out of facebook, it matters. Anti lost many of his contact information, and his ability to communicate in a country marred by censorship - China. Anti had an account under a fake name, another violation of Facebooks rules and therefore lost his account.
So the question is - how do social media sites answer these new sensitive questions? It is very difficult to stick to standard policy when you are faced with dangerous groups like the "Third Intifada" and people like Michael Anti who are are trying to affect change. What to do...
