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Today's Topics:
1. Facebook removing Linux discussions as security threats
(Kim Holburn)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2025 16:21:58 +1100
From: Kim Holburn <[email protected]>
To: Link mailing list <[email protected]>
Subject: [LINK] Facebook removing Linux discussions as security
threats
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
https://boingboing.net/2025/01/27/facebook-marking-linux-discussion-as-security-threats.html
Mark Zuckerberg recently struck a new pose in hopes of pleasing President
Trump, saying Meta would no longer check facts or censor
free speech, and blaming other executives for previous policies at the company
he runs. Since then, however, the company has
struggled to explain why it was hiding search results for left-wing political
topics?and now users are complaining it categorizes
some posts about Linux as malware.
?> ? Starting on January 19, 2025 Facebook's internal policy makers decided
that Linux is malware and labelled groups associated
with Linux as being "cybersecurity threats". Any posts mentioning DistroWatch
and multiple groups associated with Linux and Linux
discussions have either been shut down or had many of their posts removed.
>??? We've been hearing all week from readers who say they can no longer post
>about Linux on Facebook or share links to
DistroWatch. Some people have reported their accounts have been locked or
limited for posting about Linux. ?Unfortunately, there
isn't anything we can do about this, apart from advising people to get their
Linux-related information from sources other than
Facebook. I've tried to appeal the ban and was told the next day that
Linux-related material is staying on the cybersecurity filter.
My Facebook account was also locked for my efforts.
If there's no obvious bias to these content removals, that things are
disappearing from Facebook in odd and changing ways
contradicts the rhetoric about less censorship. If anything, it suggests that
the platform is experimenting with new controls on
what users can discuss and share.
Facebook uses Linux extensively, of course.
>? Facebook's overzealous ban on some Linux topics in the name of Community
>Standards and its protection of its users from threats
come with a large ladle full of irony. "Facebook runs much of its
infrastructure on Linux," DistroWatch points out, "and often posts
job ads looking for Linux developers."
Hacker News users seem to be having some success replicating the problem.
>??? I do confirm that i explicitly tested this with my super unused facebook
>account, just stating that i was testing restrictions
on talking about Linux, the text was: """I don't often (or ever) post anything
on Facebook, but when I do, it's to check if they
really, as announced on hckrnews, are restricting discussing Linux. So here's a
few links to trigger that:
https://www.qubes-os.org/downloads/ ?
https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/"""; and indeed within seconds I got the
following
warning: """ We removed your post The post may use misleading links or content
to trick people to visit, or stay on, a website. """.
This is one massive wow considering how much Facebook runs on Linux.
--
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
+61 404072753
mailto:[email protected] aim://kimholburn
skype://kholburn - PGP Public Key on request
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