Facebook’s censorship supports Erdoğan’s war

In the past few days Facebook has shut down the pages of some independent media outlets, some of them with ties to social movements. Other pages have been notified with official messages by the platform informing them of the risk of being shut down.

The contents targeted by this operation are closely linked to posts highlighting support for the Kurdish cause and expressing legitimate disagreement with what is happening in Northern Syria at the hands of Turkey. This is a war that also involves issues of information and communication, added to the list of areas of dispute, in addition to the evident economic, political and military aspects. Evidently, Recep Erdoğan’s expansionism is not only territorial, but also propagates through digital intelligence.

The attacks that these pages are undergoing are not accidental. It is clear to everyone that they are well organized and coordinated. Erdoğan is facing an effort to rebuild consensus around his figure, which is why he wants to silence all critical voices.

We believe that Facebook’s support of the Turkish regime’s communicative offensive violates the most basic dictates of press freedom. The Italian Constitution also applies to the social network, as stated in Article 21: “Everyone has the right to freely express their thoughts by word, writing and any other means of dissemination. The press cannot be subject to authorization or censorship”.

Moreover, Facebook – acting as a proprietary platform – knowingly confuses the “neutrality” of its contents with censorship of those who are denouncing the military massacre of civilians, the strengthening of Daesh – previously defeated thanks to the Kurdish resistance – and the production of a new forced migration emergency.

Does Mr Zuckerberg wish to support this propaganda campaign? Is censorship and a regime that sparked a military invasion part of the standards of communalism of the most widely used social network in the world?

As media outlets that have always advocated for freedom and real democracy, we reaffirm that we will continue to be at the forefront of documenting and supporting the struggles for justice, equality and rights in every corner of the world. At the same time we appeal to anyone who believes in the values and action of free and independent information to denounce this grave act of censorship through all the means available.

Friday 18th October press conference at “Sala Azzurra”, headquarter of Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana (Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 349 – Rome)