Facebook removes Conroy murder fan page?
Summary: Facebook appears to have removed a fan page stating that the phrase "someone should kill [Communications Minister] Senator Stephen Conroy" was "very illegal to say".
Facebook appears to have removed a fan page stating that the phrase "someone should kill [Communications Minister] Senator Stephen Conroy" was "very illegal to say".
The page, entitled "Someone should kill Senator Stephen Conroy ... is very illegal to say" — was available 9am Monday, but appears to have since been removed.
The image the page used
(Credit: Facebook)
The page continued in its satirical tone that killing Senator Conroy would "only hinder, or possibly even HALT the Great Australian Firewall", referencing the minister's plans to introduce a mandatory filter to block "refused classification" material on the internet, something many groups have been vocal against, including search engine giants Yahoo and Google.
"SPREAD the message. Tell all your friends, and bring them in. There is A DISEASE in our land, where people would do harm TO SENATOR CONROY. We must MAKE people realise, that with HIM DEAD, it will strike a blow against the safety of our internet and our children," a message on the page said.
The page had around 50 "fans" when Google's cache last grabbed a copy of it on 9 April.
"Just a heads up that it's probably illegal to say that someone really, really should kill Senator Stephen Conroy before he turns this country into a fascist *hole like Iran," the description on the Facebook page said.
The page, including the picture that accompanied it, insinuated that someone should actually murder the minister, especially the image which darkened the colour of the words "don't" and "not".
Facebook was contacted for comment but had not replied at the time of publication.
So was it a good idea for Facebook to remove it? I think so. It was fairly obvious that the page wanted exactly the opposite of what it was saying — Conroy six feet under. Despite any policies the minister might be espousing, nothing would warrant such drastic action. We are supposed to still be a civilised nation.
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Talkback
The message must be spread that killing Senator Conroy will be detrimental to his marvelous Great Australian Firewall!
It's a shame that this page came across as though they truly wanted Senator Conroy dead, I'm sure that's not what they wanted at all. I can see how the message may have come across that way - but if they're anything like me, surely they just wanted to get the message across that it would do no good to expose Australians to the Freedoms of the Internet.
After all, the internet is not for porn.
I wonder what Facebook has to say about this, do they condone the killing of Conroy? Do they not wish people to know that it would be highly illegal?
Add to that the lies and misinformation Conroy has spread it's no surprise people are angry at him. Nothing about this plan is about achieving the goals he has set and by the way he changes near every time he's interviewed (policy on the run anyone?) but he is still pushing for the introduction of the mandatory filters. Makes you wonder about the real motive behind the filters.
Does this mean people should be making death threats towards him or his family, of course not, but I can understand how people may feel better after doing so since we as opponents don't have as loud a voice, or the protection of Parliamentary Privileged that Conroy does so it's harder to get our message out.
Not that we really need to, we have fact and truth on our side.
reading that the way it was intended it reads "Spread a disease to senator conroy make him dead" hahaha.
Also the picture is made to subliminally suggest that killing conjob is a good idea =P
not sure if it actually works, but im assuming the intent was an embeded nlp message.
lol.
It's likely, though, that the sad types who desperately want to impose their secret censorship will now attempt to claim that their stance has been justified. And Conboy can vary his you-must-be-a-pedophile rhetoric by dramatically announcing "a death threat because he wants to save the children", a statement which sensible people will no doubt treat with well deserved contempt.
Facebook definitely has some serious questions to answer for themselves.
In relation to this internet filter... From what I understand it's not going to be a good thing and will be detrimental to the speed of the internet. Personally I don't want to go back to the dark ages in speed.
Children need to be taught to avoid and also how to deal with illegal and disgusting activity at a young age. Without that, they will not know what to do and will then peruse and use and act with illegal items without understanding.
I think that whether its blocked or not, people will still find a way if they really want it...