No more hoaxes on Facebook, Boldrini asks for more commitment to Zuckerberg

The President of the Chamber writes to the head of Facebook to encourage him to take action against the spread of hatred and misinformation on social

On Facebook there can be no room for hatred. A sentence that seems obvious but that according to recent events is not so. To reiterate this was the President of the Chamber, Laura Boldrini, who in a letter published in a national newspaper addresses itself directly to Mark Zuckerberg about the violent use of social.

"Mr. Zuckerberg, - so begins the letter written to the head of Facebook - like many I am concerned about the spread of hatred in public discourse. A phenomenon that is certainly not generated by social networks, but that has a vehicle for potentially universal diffusion. This must therefore be a time of responsibility for everyone: the greater the power at one's disposal, the greater. And yours is considerable. You said that on Facebook there is no space for hate. I have to tell you that, at least in Italy, it is not true. After all, the data of application of the code of conduct against the spread of illicit incitement to hatred in Europe, which even your company has signed in May 2016 with the EU Commission, speak for themselves."

The numbers reported by Boldrini

To confirm what has been said, the president of the Chamber has also reported numbers that underline the problem in an exhaustive manner. "The first six-monthly verification - writes Boldrini - says that just 28% of the content reported as discriminatory or racist has been deleted. An average that is derived from 50% of Germany and France and from the measly 4% Italian. I wonder if this alarming data is also due to the absence of an operating office of Facebook in Italy. An Italy that suffers little collaboration from its company even on the front of disinformation, contrary to what happens in Germany or France. I have recently launched an awareness campaign on this issue. Precisely because I am convinced that fake news cause damage to people and often represent the antechamber of hatred".

Boldrini's proposals

In her speech, Boldrini also recalled that she recently met Richard Allan, Facebook's vice president of public policy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, at Montecitorio. During the meeting, the President of the Chamber made three proposals related to the theme of hatred, racism and misinformation on social networks. For Boldrini, it is essential that Facebook opens an office in Italy that can protect the 28 million users that the social network has in our country. Boldrini, however, complains about the fact of having received so far only generic answers. And she closes with a direct question to Zuckerberg: "which side is Facebook on in this battle of civility?"

The insults on social

To give an example of the incivility and hatred that social networks often help to spread, Boldrini has also posted a series of insults on Facebook directed by users to her person. And despite several reports, made now even days and months, some comments that affect the person as well as the political figure are still on display and have not been removed from the social. This is obviously a serious danger because it can happen to politicians and famous people but also to kids, children or weaker people.