Facebook is declining to say why it appears to be picking and choosing political leaders to censor at the request of the US government after it deleted the social media accounts of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
The Silicon Valley technology company deleted Kadyrov’s Instagram and Facebook profiles after the United States imposed travel and economic sanctions on him over allegations of human rights abuses.
Facebook declined to explain why it had deleted some accounts but not others under US sanctions law.
A company spokeswoman told the Guardian: “We operate under the constraints of US laws, which vary by circumstance.”.
It seems as though Facebook is picking and choosing compliance, which suggests there is government involvement Jillian York, Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Kadyrov is an ally of Vladimir Putin and was added to the sanctions list with four other Russians in December.
However, because Facebook uses the US state department’s categorisation of terrorist organisation it blocks these politicians from having a presence on its platforms. »