
Facebook blocks Pulitzer-winning reporter over Malta government exposé - a_w
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/19/facebook-blocks-malta-journalist-joseph-muscat-panama-papers
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phantom_oracle
I've said it before and I'll say it again, the real issue here is that in 2017
(and beyond), the only way/place that you will be able to reach an audience is
via these walled-gardens known as Facebook/Twitter/etc.

This is the same company that fought against US legislature (SOPA or whatever
it was called) but created its own non-neutral _internet.org_ for the third-
world.

The only race that these giant advertising media/companies are in is the race
for: total-observation

and unlike the _evil government from 1984_ , these leech-like data-harvesting
entities are celebrated by their peers for re-inventing MySpace and IRC over
and over again.

~~~
k-mcgrady
Hasn't it always been like this though apart from a brief window in maybe the
00's? Prior to blogging taking off you needed money and real world marketing
to reach an audience through books/magazines/newspapers/music/film. The owner
of the garden has just changed (and it's less restrictive than Wallmart ever
was.

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mercer
'Messages' are ultimately at the mercy of the medium. Having the medium owned
by one corporation, even if it's not abused right now, strikes me as worse
than having a sizable of 'elite' companies, each with their own (often
explicit) biases, competing for attention.

Whether the latter is worse than a gaggle of bloggers trampling all over the
plants, I'm not so sure anymore. But either option still seems better than a
handful of corporations owning the garden.

~~~
k-mcgrady
I guess looking to the future there could be issues but as FB/Twitter/Tumblr
rely on lots of people posting I don't see it as a likely eventuality as it's
not in their best interests to severely restrict content. So for now I would
argue it's still much better than in the past but I agree that might not
always be the case.

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yeukhon
I am in depression so sometimes I get very cynical and very sick I go on FB to
vent. I wrote multiple status posts the other day, some mentioning suicidal
tenancy. In one of the posts I said I hate my life, my life suck. Well, the
next day FB deleted that particular post, but left the rest untouched despite
the survivors clearly are more serious mentioning suicide. I don't mind they
deleted it I was going to anyway, but it's odd they would consider my own
cynical comment about my life being suck as a violation of their community
rule, but the rest aren't.

~~~
Helmet
It sounds like you are going through a very difficult time. I hope you can get
help soon. In case you get down again, below is the website and phone number
for the suicide prevention hotline:

[https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/](https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/)

~~~
yeukhon
Thank you. I have been struggling with this for a few months now. I have had
multiple depressions in the past. I am better, with family.

~~~
didgeoridoo
It's excellent you're feeling better, but depression with suicidal ideation is
unfortunately a medical problem that doesn't go away on its own. Please
consider seeking professional help right away — the sooner the better, because
it will be much more difficult to motivate yourself to get help if and when
the badness returns.

~~~
yeukhon
Yes I do but I am actually scared to tell them. Because my last therapist said
in his practice he has to report it which means I have to go back to hospital.
Last time I went (well back in Feb) I was admitted under voluntary terms and
while the place isn't bad it did feel like a jail because I would miss being
out there hearing people on the street. I probably should write a blog post
when I recover...

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johnnydoe9
A friend posted screenshots from the movie Spotlight, before the credits the
list of churches and it got deleted for hurting religious sentiments. He tried
to fight it but didn't win. The caption was just "something needs to be done
about this"

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ComodoHacker
Note that the posts in question where in Maltese and were shared about 1000
times. So it's most probably just local mods team collaborating with Maltese
government.

~~~
LukaD
Does that make it any better?

