back to article Facebook bans Russia's RT ahead of Trump's Inauguration Day (then changes its mind)

Facebook apparently blocked Russia Today – the Kremlin-bankrolled broadcaster now known as RT – from posting anything other than text messages on the social network. On Wednesday, RT said Facebook had instituted the ban as the station was live-casting President Obama's final press conference. The channel said any articles, …

  1. bombastic bob Silver badge
    Holmes

    let's just stop using facebook

    what it says in the title.

    1. WonkoTheSane

      Re: let's just stop using facebook

      To do that, I'd have to have started using it. Upvoted anyway.

      1. Arctic fox
        Thumb Up

        @Wonko The Sane "To do that I'd have to have started using it. Upvoted anyway"

        You and me both. :)

        Furthermore, from the article:

        "Whether or not the ban was over a copyright kerfuffle, the Kafkaesque stone-walling is not a great look for a social network that's used by more than a billion people and wields unprecedented power over the media and populations. Facebook declined to comment when poked by El Reg last night.®"

        Is it not hilarious that when it comes to stonewalling legitimate questions FarceBook manages to out-Kremlin the Kremlin? Indeed in a contest to treat your "voters/customers" with studied contempt I am not sure who would win, Vladimir Putin or Mark Zuckerberg.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I thought we lived in the free world and they were the state with the over reaching government.

    Silly me.

    1. Santa from Exeter

      Silly you indeed

      The ostensibly 'Free World' has "over reaching government" in spades!

  3. Bob Hoskins
    Coat

    Zuck

    Given that most people seem to have a generally unfavorable opinion of the Zuck (can't think why) - how is it that in a nation with so many guns, he can just walk down the street without fear of imminent assassination?

    I'm not suggesting that any El Reg readers should do such a thing, merely that I'd be terrified in his position.

    The Kevlar one with the ceramic inserts.

    1. Ogi

      Re: Zuck

      > how is it that in a nation with so many guns, he can just walk down the street without fear of imminent assassination?

      He is rich enough to afford his own security detail, his own massive houses with high walls and big doors, and most likely will spend most of his time socialising within those same walls, or within the walls of other likewise rich people.

      As for how he gets between those different places, there are many ways. However I doubt he will just walk a street alone like that. Even if someone didn't mind him personally and didn't want him dead, an opportunity for a kidnapping and some ransom money payout from the family would cross certain minds.

      In many ways, the rich live a far more imprisoned life than the rest, the metaphorical "golden handcuffs". It is far worse if you are famous though. If you are rich and anonymous, you can just attempt to blend in, and most will not know your net worth. However if you are rich and famous, then you can't go anywhere without being recognised for what you are.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Zuck

      I would be surprised if Mr Zuckerberg does not have an armed security detail and a wall around his estate. And I imagine you won't generally just find him walking down the street.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Big Brother

    "The Register has tackled these pressures by moving away from display advertising...

    "into events and “lead generation” (selling data about readers to those who want to sell things to them)"

    What data, actually?

    1. Mark 85

      Re: "The Register has tackled these pressures by moving away from display advertising...

      Probably whatever data you give them in those surveys El Reg asks us to take. The questions should give you a clue about what they will know.

  5. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    "active countermeasures."

    Looks like we're heading towards another Cold War-type environment, this time on the Internet.

    Looking forward to hearing the why of this event. And don't try telling me that it was a bug - this was clearly targeted, thus decided.

  6. Milton

    Golden Hypocrite Award

    I know, it doesn't have quite the glamorous ring of a Golden Cleric—but we need some way of celebrating companies and individuals who manage to be even more ethically bankrupt and hypocritical than the people who did so much to set record low standards: politicians.

    The citation for Zuckerberg's Gold Hypocrite (he'll be accepting it on behalf of everyone at Facebook whether they want it or not) will read in part—

    "... not content with attempting to lower the mean IQ of the human species by 30 points through an aggressive distribution of purposeless clicking, endless time-wasting, advertising drivel, trite photographs, regurgitated "jokes", marketing, pseudo-news, kittens and the cheapest friends an internet user can bulk-buy, Zuck has sustained the decade-long and growing reputation of Facebook for truly repellent moral cowardice, all in the name of healthy full-fat high-octane American greed ..."

  7. Frank Bitterlich
    Flame

    Facebook is becoming a problem.

    For a long time, Facebook has tried their best to become a replacement for the World Wide Web, to a point where many businesses worry more about creating a Facebook profile than a website.

    And now - surprise - the reports about questionable decisions on blocking or allowing certain content are on the rise. So many people are not aware that Facebook is a profit oriented business which deals with the content its clients generate and which pretty much runs counter to all of the internet's ideas about "openness" and freedom.

    Facebook controls substantial parts of the global internet communication, has created its own "sub-web", and behaves pretty much like a totalitarian state: It tracks and spies on its "citizens", has practically no accountability, censors content at will, spreads known-false information, and has a "leader" who lives by a different set of rules. Preaches "sharing is caring"-like statements to justify its snooping while trying to sue his neighbors in Hawaii to vacate their premises so that he has some privacy.

    Anybody who does not see the irony - and danger - in this, should read up on recent history, especially about East Germany.

    At least stop seeing Facebook as a more convenient alternative to the World Wide Web. It's like thinking life in North Korea must be great since you don't have to worry about unemployment.

    1. Gene Cash Silver badge

      Re: Facebook is becoming a problem.

      stop seeing Facebook as a more convenient alternative to the World Wide Web

      That's just what stupid people do. The exact same people that thought AOL was the internet. The exact same people that put contests & promotions on FB and wonder why I can't/won't get to them.

      I've even run into businesses whose entire presence was a FB page. "Oh just go to our FB page" "No, I don't have a FB account so I can't get to it [demonstrates "f*ck off if you don't have an account" on phone]" "[boggle]"

      You're preaching to the choir here, as people on El Reg are not these people.

      Of course I try to stay away from stupid people of this sort, but they're what makes FB tick.

    2. Chris G

      Re: Facebook is becoming a problem.

      If I was an NSA/CIA wonk, I would do everything in my power to ensure the Zuck was in my pocket.

      Assuming he hasn't been working for them all along!

  8. werdsmith Silver badge

    I'm more embarrassed that BBC and ITV have both replaced their programme schedule with the Trump inaguration. Why? He's not our President, there is no public interest or benefit in us watching him getting crowned.

    Embarassing.

  9. Alan Brown Silver badge

    Not the first time

    A few years ago, Youtube shut down NASA's youtube channel after an automated copyright claim from a broadcaster was filed - in the middle of a shuttle launch.

    That took a while to get resolved _and_ the same stonewalling was observed.

    Yes, there are criminal provisions for false DMCA declarations, but the claimants get around that using the Chewbacca defense - "I claim I own this, therefore you must take down that" (Where this and that are not related.

    DMCA law needs an overhaul. It's unfit for purpose.

    1. Mark 85

      Re: Not the first time

      DMCA law along with FB, Google and few others (MS included) needs an overhaul. It's unfit for purpose.

      FTFY

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Automatic copy right systems used to silence opposing views, a fun 8 years to go.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Automatic copy right systems used to silence opposing views, a fun 8 years to go.

      Are you suggesting Trump is behind what FaceBook does?

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