At least one Facebook user was shocked to see that on an official invitation from Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson to the inaugural block party on Thursday, Facebook had inserted a caution: “Are you concerned that someone you know is becoming an extremist? We care about preventing extremism on Facebook. Others in your situation have received confidential support.”
Facebook admits it is rolling out an initiative to combat extremism on its platform. Other users are being notified that they may have been exposed to “extremist content,” and are redirected to a page to help them.
Evidently something about the mayor’s inaugural block party was deemed extremist by Facebook. Was it the Polynesian dancers? The Native drummers? The Anchorage Police Department booth or the children’s bouncy house? Perhaps it was the live country band Sixwire, or the fact that Democrat Forrest Dunbar didn’t win, or the protest transvestites parading the perimeter of the event in women’s lingerie.
Who knows what is triggering the social media giant these days to flag the users of its platform?
According to Fox, CNN, and other mainstream media sources, such notifications just started showing up Thursday as part of a Facebook test to identify people on the platform who have engaged with or were exposed to what Facebook considers extremist content. The company is partnering with unknown nonprofits and academics to further what it calls the “Redirect Initiative.”
Have you seen the warning on your Facebook feed? Leave a description in the comments below.
