Facebook has been shutting down pages set up by opposition groups in Syria’s protracted civil war. It isn’t only extremist groups that have been affected but also peaceful activists seeking to distribute news and information.
At issue are the graphic and bloody pictures the groups have been posting in order to document the violence of the civil war. Activists claim that the regime’s supporters are reporting the graphic content to Facebook, causing the pages to be shut down.
The social network has played a major role in the Syrian uprising as the lack of freedom of press and speech has made opposition groups flock to Facebook to gather news and communicate. Many of the pages that have recently been shut down by Facebook have resurfaced under new URLs but with significantly fewer followers.