Vigilance Needed as Facebook Shuts Down Group Pages

Recently, Facebook groups such as Caring Hong Kong Power, Voice of Loving HK, etc., have all been suddenly and unexpectedly blocked. Facebook’s hidden methods of indiscriminately blocking accounts has led people to realize that Hong Kong’s network freedoms are largely determined by the U.S. and civilian voices from Hong Kong can be silenced at any time. Following Edward Snowden’s disclosure that the U.S. government has previously staged a large-scale invasion of Hong Kong’s network, these actions confirm that foreign countries have the power to meddle with Hong Kong’s network freedoms. “Social networks” such as Facebook can easily become a tool for large U.S. enterprises and opposition factions to shut down dissenting voices — a danger worthy of vigilance. Facebook should offer a full explanation for why it has shut down these groups, and government should regulate these businesses so that they abide by Hong Kong’s principles of network freedom, strictly guarding against similar closures and blockades in the future.

Civilian groups making use of Hong Kong’s network freedoms to publish news and discuss current events on Facebook is a normal exercise of civil rights. These organizations did not disseminate content that was pornographic, violent or unlawful in any other way, yet Facebook, without providing any evidence or explanation, abruptly terminated the accounts for these groups. Not only is this unfair to the organizations using these accounts, but it also grossly interferes with the freedom and rights of civilians and civil organizations to disseminate information and publish personal opinions. In fact, the Voice of Loving HK group was temporarily blocked at the end of June, right before Hong Kong’s annual July 1 protests. This was highly unusual; Facebook’s actions were tantamount to erasing all civilian opinions and comments in one clean stroke, strangling Hong Kong citizens’ freedom of expression and violating the fair use principles of the Internet. Although the group’s forums and discussion boards have now been restored, the temporary, unexplained, shut-down of these groups can be likened to a gag order silencing these patriotic Hong Kong organizations.

The Need To Be Aware of US Corporations Infringing on Internet Freedoms

These civilian groups questioned whether the accounts were frozen due to a large number of complaints about their organizations. Thus, Voice of Loving HK members submitted a request to Facebook for an explanation and confirmation of why the group was deleted, but they did not receive a response. Although Facebook is a large, well-known transnational corporation, it does not provide an address or phone number for offices in Hong Kong and has no transparent means of receiving grievances or complaints. There are no protective measures offered for a user’s freedom of speech. After these incidents, Facebook’s opaque and secretive ways have been brought to light, some of which may even constitute cyberbullying, and citizens still have no place to lodge their complaints. Facebook has not offered users any apology or explanation. After this violation of their network freedoms, account holders can only stand by and allow further invasions. As a giant figure within the U.S. Internet industry, Facebook and other similar corporations are stealthily manipulating Hong Kong’s network freedoms.

Facebook is one of the world’s leading social networking tools, but its internal operations and mechanisms have never been laid out for the public. Recently, Snowden exposed the U.S. government for crudely interfering with networks of other countries and several civilian organized groups were temporarily shut down on Facebook, both events further confirming the hidden threat that foreign countries are posing towards network freedoms in Hong Kong.

According to the situation described by Snowden, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple and other giant Internet corporations all privately interact with the National Security Agency, allowing the government direct access to all sorts of data. This is entirely different from the circumstances detailed in the companies’ privacy agreements. The data collected by these companies may seem harmless, but can be conducive for the U.S. government to infiltrate computer systems of other countries, becoming very useful if the U.S. should want to gather foreign intelligence or launch a cyberattack.

In the past, Facebook has influenced conditions in revolutions in North Africa and the Middle East — encouraging, motivating, commanding and subverting the actions of many country’s regimes. In addition to this, many Facebook investors and senior managers have a background in U.S. intelligence agencies. After Facebook’s former securities officer left the company, he took a position with U.S. Department of Homeland Security, reflecting how these giant corporations work in close proximity with the U.S. government to collect personal data. The intricate relationships between the U.S. government and these giant Internet corporations deserve to be put on high alert by other governments and societies, lest these corporations use the name of “social networking” to exert control over our freedom of expression. Aside from Facebook needing to give an account for why it has indiscriminately shut down various Facebook groups, the government also needs to strengthen its policies to prevent corporations from abusing their authority to shut down sites on the Internet so as to safeguard against Hong Kong’s freedom of expression.