Facebook gets rapped for racial slur - IT Protests Of 2008

[VelMurugan]

Facebook gets rapped for racial slur

In November, social networking site Facebook came under fire from Australian users for ignoring racial vilification on the site and allowing in racist groups which have been marked as offensive.

Alex Gollan, a Sydney-based Facebook user, who campaigned against the racist groups, has been threatened with violence, and he feared that the site will be used to rally people for violence.

In the same month, the site permanently banned one offender, but only after the racism issue came under the spotlight after revelations that Scots College and Kambala students had created anti-Semitic groups on the site.

Some of the racist Facebook groups are, "F--- Islam", "I hate Israel", "You're in Australia ... Speak English!", "Aussie Pride! Love it or Get The F--- Out", "Learn the Aussie Language, Respect Our Way Of Life, It's Not Hard!", "Respect Australia or F--- Off!", "Asian drivers should be forced to display A-Plates" and "I cannot tolerate South African Accent".

Some of the postings that were posted were full of racial epithets, derogatory remarks and threats and taunts for Muslim users to blow themselves up or leave the country.

Earlier, the makeover of the popular social networking site didn't go well with several of its users. These users termed the new design, which became default for almost all its members, "confusing and non-user-friendly".

The protesters formed a community called "1,000,000 against the new Facebook layout," and asked their supporters to boycott Facebook for two days (October 18 and 19) to prove their point. The group reportedly had over 2 million members.

Dissatisfied users wrote that Facebook's new design is hectic and unclear. And as recently as December, Web-savvy moms who breast-feed complained that social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace restrict photos of nursing babies.

Source : IndiaTimes