Public Mediation

Facebook Holocaust vs Free Speech- time for a new terms of use for Facebook

M. D. vs. Facebook Inc
1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, California, 94025-1456, United States
Amount Involved: Other terms
    • Status: In Negotiation
      This claim has posted for public comment and negotiation. It will remain posted until resolved to the claimant's satisfaction. Suggest a resolution to help these parties reach a settlement.
    • View response from: Facebook Inc
    • Claimant Seeks: 1 non-monetary items.
    • Claim #: 48500
    • Amount Involved: N/A
    • Filed On: Oct 23, 2009
    • Posted On: Nov 10, 2009
    • Complaint(s):
      • Questionable Business Practices
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Statement of Claim
Complaint Involved (1) - View
Claimant says:
"John Stuart Mill on Free Speech vs Harm:There is a great deal of debate about what Mill had in mind when he referred to harm; for the purposes of this essay he will be taken to mean that an action has to directly and in the first instance invade the rights of a person (Mill himself uses the term rights, despite basing the arguments in the book on the principle of utility). The limits on free speech will be very narrow because it is difficult to support the claim that most speech causes harm to the rights of others. This is the position staked out by Mill in the first two chapters of On Liberty and it is a good starting point for a discussion of free speech because it is hard to imagine a more liberal position.

If we accept the argument based on the harm principle we need to ask “what types of speech, if any, cause harm?” Once we can answer this question, we have found the appropriate limits to free expression. The example Mill uses is in reference to corn dealers; he suggests that it is acceptable to claim that corn dealers starve the poor if such a view is expressed through the medium of the printed page. It is not acceptable to express the same view to an angry mob, ready to explode, that has gathered outside the house of the corn dealer. The difference between the two is that the latter is an expression “such as to constitute…a positive instigation to some mischievous act,” (1978, 53), namely, to place the rights, and possibly the life, of the corn dealer in danger. As Daniel Jacobson (2000) notes, it is important to remember that Mill will not sanction limits to free speech simply because someone is harmed by the statements of others. For example, the corn dealer may suffer severe financial hardship if he is accused of starving the poor. Mill distinguishes between legitimate and illegitimate harm, and it is only when speech causes a direct and clear violation of rights that it can be limited. The fact that Mill does not count accusations of starving the poor as causing legitimate harm to the rights of corn dealers suggests he wished to apply the harm principle sparingly. Other examples where the harm principle may apply include libel laws, blackmail, advertising blatant untruths about commercial products, advertising dangerous products to children (e.g. cigarettes), and securing truth in contracts. In most of these cases, it is possible to make an argument that harm has been committed and that rights have been violated.

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What Claimant Wants Hide
What By When How Much
1. Explanation of policy. Send me the explanation to Sallytreadwell@bellsouth.net Nov 05, 2009 N/A
Non-cash: 1 items
  • 0
Do you agree with the claimant’s demands?  (If you are a party to this claim, click here.)
Respondent's Counteroffer Hide
Message from Facebook Inc: Thank you for reaching out to us on this issue.
We find groups that deny the occurrence of the Holocaust to be repugnant and ignorant. We have spent considerable time internally discussing the issues of holocaust denial and have come to the conclusion that the mere statement of denying the holocaust is not a violation of our terms. We’d like to assure Ms. Treadwell that if the members of holocaust denial groups consistently post hateful or threatening comments we will take the groups down, and have done so on many occasions. Our policies prohibit degrading a person or group based on their membership in a group belonging to a protected category, such as religion. As a result, our policies would disallow the hypothetical group that Ms. Treadwell refers to (“why Jews deserved it”). We take action on credible threats of violence, so any speech aimed at causing physical harm is already prohibited per our policies. While it would be incredibly difficult for us to subjectively gauge what content might cause users pain and consistently remove it from the site, we believe maintaining such comprehensive policies allows us to better address potential cases of hate speech when they arise.
What By When How Much
1. Explanation of policy Oct 28, 2009 N/A
Non-cash: 1 items
  • 0
Do you agree with the respondent’s Response?  (If you are a party to this claim, click here.)
Offer History
Oct 17, 2009
Claimant's Terms of Settlement to Facebook Inc
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