Loaded Question: Facebook Pushes ‘Does this post contain hate speech?’ Flag on Unsuspecting Users

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May 1, 2018

Facebook became a bit more Orwellian today.

“Does this post contain hate speech?” is a question that will now be posed on every single post made on the social networking giant.

“Facebook just rolled out a new feature in which they now ask “Does this post contain hate speech?” on every single post in your feed,” tweeted Far Left Watch. “If you select ‘Yes’ you are encouraged to provide feedback or ‘call local emergency services’ if someone is in immediate danger.”

The original post was one from President Donald J. Trump’s page that said “Peace is the Prize.” It is difficult to imagine how that could be construed as hateful.

Conservative Bridgette Gabriel of Act for America, an anti-terrorism organization, had a similar reaction to the absurd new policy, recognizing that it spells trouble for right-leaning Facebook users.

https://twitter.com/ACTBrigitte/status/991338003820924928

“Facebook is censoring my account. Asking if my post contains “Hate Speech” Give me a break,” she wrote. “Opposing Radical Islam is NOT Hate Speech.”

In point of fact, “hate speech” does not even exist in America. In fact, the very idea that one of the largest social media companies on earth would seek to censor speech in America is antithetical to the First Amendment. Facebook cannot be trusted to protect unpopular opinions, especially those espoused by conservatives, which are all deemed “hateful” by the political left.

But it is not just political speech that is being monitored. Benign posts are being tracked too:

“Facebook — an industry leader in Artificial Intelligence who thinks that AI is going to solve all of its problems — is asking me if this post contains hate speech,” wrote Brian Feldman, a writer at New York Magazine. 

The original post came from an animal rescue center, showcasing the weight loss of a formerly fat dog.

A BloombergTV co-host noticed the same “hate speech” flag on a New York Times article about Japanese food in Austin, Texas.

“This is weird,” Joe Weisenthal wrote. “Facebook is asking me about whether *my own post* on Facebook contains hate speech. And also, the post is just a NYT story about restaurant trends in Austin, to which I’ve added no commentary.”

Facebook’s new system of reporting offensive content is sure to wreak havoc on users, as it purely subjective in nature. So far, no one seems to be enjoying the new “feature.” Time will tell how long it lasts.

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