Facebook is banning posts that mention various Linux-related topics, sites, or groups. Some users may also see their accounts locked or limited when posting Linux topics. Major open-source operating system news, reviews, and discussion site DistroWatch is at the center of the controversy, as it seems to be the first to have noticed that Facebook’s Community Standards had blackballed it.
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DistroWatch says that the Facebook ban took effect on January 19. Readers have reported difficulty posting links to the site on this social media platform. Moreover, some have told DistroWatch that their Facebook accounts have been locked or limited after sharing posts mentioning Linux topics.
If you’re wondering if there might be something specific to DistroWatch.com, something on the site that the owners/operators perhaps don’t even know about, for example, then it seems pretty safe to rule out such a possibility. Reports show that “multiple groups associated with Linux and Linux discussions have either been shut down or had many of their posts removed.” However, we tested a few other Facebook posts with mentions of Linux, and they didn’t get blocked immediately.
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"They came first for the distros. But I didn’t speak up, because it was only Facebook and only Linux. "
Never had a FB account never will.
I haven’t logged into Facebook in over a decade, can’t even remember the login email. Can’t be arsed to jump through hoops to ask for it to be deleted.
Can’t imagine why anyone would willingly make a fb page today.
Many towns use Facebook to post information about meetings, elections, events, etc., and they don’t post it anywhere else. Unfortunately you can only look at a page for so long before they make you log in. So without an account you could miss stuff.
Are you seriously applying a fight for rights for people to software? LMAO.
What a ridiculous thing to do.
I still can’t tell if this is sarcasm.
If you think this isn’t related to human rights, then you’ve missed the point.
People have the right to use technology, and indeed we effectively need technology to exercise our right to free speech. You cannot have one without the other. Not anymore.
The right way to think about this that they are arbitrarily banning a topic of discussion simply because it is not dead-center average. This isn’t even a legal issue, and the justification is utter nonsense (Facebook itself runs on Linux, like >90% of the internet). No government has officially asked them to do this, though the timing suggests that it is unofficially from the Trump administration.
This is about exerting control, establishing precedent, and applying a chilling effect to anything not directly aligned with their interests. This obviously extends to human rights issues. This is a test run.
Okay, thanks for explaining.
Boiling frog. It’s easier to start oppressing people when you start suppressing their rights, so gradually, it’s barely noticeable.
And I know Meta is a private company, they have their right to “moderate” what is discussed on their platform. But saddly, Facebook is still a big player in the social media landscape.
There are certainly are bigger issues in the world right now, sure, but it isnt about “rights for software”, it is about the ability people to talk about what they want (in this case, software)