Friday, 20 June 2014 00:55
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Several Facebook pages attached to the Bodu Bala Sena were removed after users of the social networking site complained about hate speech; the site has informed its users.“We reviewed the page you reported for containing hate speech or symbols. Since it violated our community standards, we removed it,” Facebook said in an email notification sent to users who reported the page.The pages for Galagodatthe Gnanasara Thera, which at time of removal had 8,889 likes, and the Bodu Bala Sena, which had 12,796, were removed after large number of users reported them for violation of Facebook’s community standards.
Facebook’s community standards, a set of guidelines for its users, states that users “may not credibly threaten others, or organise acts of real-world violence” and that organisations with a record of terrorist or violent criminal activity are not allowed to maintain a presence on the site.
The standards also have a specific section on hate speech, which states that Facebook does not permit hate speech. “While we encourage you to challenge ideas, institutions, events, and practices, we do not permit individuals or groups to attack others based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability or medical condition,” it adds.
The Bodu Bala Sena and their affiliated fringe groups maintain active social media presences with large followings, but are met with equal, if not stronger, anti-hate campaigners from the Sri Lankan online community.
