While Google's historic tagline of 'Don't Be Evil' has occasionally been questioned, it would seem Facebook has taken up the mantle (Chinese censorship style). As ekatherimini reports [3], the third most-supported political party in Greece - the neo-nazi Golden Dawn [4] - has been blocked by Facebook in what the party calls "an act of censorship" and a "relentless attack against nationalist users" of the site. With over 10% of the Greek population currently polled as voting for this nationalist party, evidently Facebook did not 'like' the posting of various Nazi symbols. See no evil, do no evil, 'like' no evil; as it appears Zuckerberg and his California crew will have no evil on their servers (or any other popular political parties' insignia we presume). Raises lots of questions this one...
Via ekatherimini [3],
Greece’s neofascist Golden Dawn party on Monday slammed a decision by Facebook to block the accounts of several of its members and deputies, lashing out at what it said was an “act of censorship” and a “relentless attack against nationalist users.”
The California-based networking website allegedly blocked the profiles after deeming that they violated terms of use on violence and racism. It also deleted the web pages of Golden Dawn members and others who had posted Nazi symbols. The party, which has 18 seats in Parliament, has reportedly filed a complaint with Greece’s electronic crimes unit.
Meanwhile, Greece’s primary school teachers’ federation (DOE) on Monday condemned attempts by members of Golden Dawn to interfere with the commemoration of the October 28 anniversary – when Greeks celebrate the 1940 rejection of an Italian ultimatum – at a kindergarten and primary school on the Ionian island of Lefkada. Several children of Albanian descent allegedly drew the Albanian flag during a class on multiculturalism. The drawings went on display for the October 28 celebration.
The move irked several Greek parents, who notified Golden Dawn officials on the island. The latter accused the teacher of being unpatriotic.
In a statement Monday, DOE defended the teacher, saying that “the Greek school has no space for self-styled guardians of all that is sacred and holy in this nation.”
Recent reports have suggested that members of Golden Dawn aim to interfere with upcoming school commemorations of the 1973 Athens Polytechnic student uprising against the military dictatorship on November 17.