Internet brigade continue to game Facebook’s algorithm to get activists banned and censored

Advocacy journalist Kirsten Han has joined the likes of prominent blogger Andrew Loh and activist Teo Soh Lung in getting herself banned and censored in Facebook. The following is what CPF blogger Roy Ngerng said in his Facebook about Kirsten’s take down in Facebook.

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Facebook has taken down Kirsten Han’s post now. A few days ago, Facebook took down Soh Lung Teo‘s post – where she wrote about how the police raided her home and mine. And how the police seized our devices without any warrant. Soh Lung called it “police terror”.

Several people, including Kirsten and I, reposted Soh Lung’s post, to show solidarity with Soh Lung. There is nothing in Soh Lung’s post which contravened Facebook’s standards. Soh Lung had explained how our privacy was violated.

Can we still feel safe when we cannot trust the police to protect innocent Singaporeans like Soh Lung and I?

Yet today, Facebook took down Kirsten’s post. It is known that there are a bunch of people whom we know as the PAP Internet Brigade (IB) who act as insurgents to spread the PAP’s propaganda and attack the opposition and activists online (this was reported in The Straits Times in 2007).

The PAP IBs are also believed to mass report postings of activists and the opposition to Facebook to get them taken down.

Previously, Facebook took down Andrew Loh‘s post but later apologised and reinstated it for the wrongful removal. Then it took down Soh Lung’s post and now Kirsten’s post.

I previously wrote to Facebook to inform Facebook of how its procedures are being circumvented by such rogue practices and asked Facebook to look into it. But why does it seem that Facebook postings of the opposition and activists still keep being taken down while those of the PAP are not?

I am sharing Kirsten’s post here to show solidarity with Kirsten, as I did with Soh Lung.

Facebook has to show that it stands up for the freedom of speech and democracy, and not allow itself to be pondered to by unfair political elements.