facebook-page-advocating-the-beheading-of-infidels-does-not-violate-rules

Facebook says page advocating the beheading of infidels does not violate terms of service.

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Peter Foley/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Despite Facebook's rules prohibiting violent content, a page that openly advocates beheadinganyone who disrespects the prophet Mohammed does not violate the site's terms of service, Facebook spokesman Fred Wolens told Examiner on Wednesday.

The page, "Behead Those Who Disrespect Our Prophet P.B.U.H," does not violate the rules, Wolens said, because Facebook has "different standards around images versus text."

"Under our terms, this Page does not credibly threaten a specific person or target a protected category," he explained in an email.

Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch wrote about the page Tuesday, calling it "real hatred and incitement to violence."

"It is not 'hate' when it's a Facebook page. It only becomes 'hate' when I report about it," he wrote.

At least two readers at Jihad Watch said they reported the page to Facebook and were told it did not violate their terms of service.

It's not the first time Facebook has ruled in favor of such content.

In April, the social media giant said a gruesome video of a woman being decapitated did not violate their rules against graphic violence.

Wolens justified the ruling by claiming that people were posting it in order to condemn it.

The news of Wednesday's ruling did not sit well with Diane Sori, a conservative blogger who was banned from Facebook over a link to a beheading picture she never posted. The link was posted by an administrator of the pro-Sarah Palin page "Barracuda Brigade for Our American Girl! 2012."

Sori, along with other administrators of the page, was punished due to Facebook's policies that hold all administrators responsible for content regardless of the circumstances.

Sori told Examiner by private message that by allowing the page to remain, "along with all the anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, anti-Christian, anti-Jesus, and anti-conservative pages (including pages that call for the deaths of Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney)," Facebook was demonstrating its loyalty to Obama and, she added, "his far left, anti-American, pro-Islamic agenda."

Sori also said those who invest in Facebook stock need to know about the situation.

For some time, conservatives have bitterly complained about what they see as a double standard in Facebook's policy enforcement.

As a result, several conservative Facebook-like alternatives have come into existence. Tea Party Community, for example, has attracted over 125,000 users. Other sites include United Patriotsand Online Friends.

A Facebook event also asks users to stay off the social media site on Independence Day, July 4.

Examiner's Chris Collins has more on the background of the page here.

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