Despite Complaints, Facebook Allows Anti-Macedonian Hate Speech On Macedonian Pages – OpEd

By

Facebook claims that anti-Macedonian hate speech “does not violate their Community Standards”. What kind of community with no standards does Facebook think we live in? This sounds a lot like the “freedom of speech” excuse for doing nothing about lesser-known examples of racism. Well, freedom of speech (and related excuses) do not include hate. The term “freedom of speech” should not be used in order to avoid being placed “in the middle” of a conflict. Saying that an ethnic group doesn’t exist and supporting various governments’ policies aimed at eradicating this ethnic group does not constitute “conflict”. It is hate speech. Facebook chooses to do nothing about it.

Macedonians in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece and other Balkan countries face discrimination every day and are struggling to achieve their human rights. Even the name of the Republic of Macedonia is under attack. Macedonian Human Rights Movement International advocates for oppressed Macedonians and demands an end to this discrimination. Visiting our Facebook page, one should not have to see anti-Macedonian messages and relive the hate that these people face every day.

MHRMI has asked Facebook to allow the removal of these messages and we have reported the people who posted them for violations, but to no avail. We’ve complained. Facebook is unmoved. Do we need to explain exactly how this is hate or compare it to more well-known examples of racism and xenophobia? No. That is not fair to Macedonians or the other ethnic groups that endure racism. Hate is hate. Facebook, change your policy now and issue an apology.

Macedonians, and other oppressed ethnic groups, make your voices heard. Share this message and contact Facebook. Demand change. www.facebook.com/mhrmi

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *