KRG Pressures Facebook to Stop Censoring Kurdish Content

ERBIL, Kurdistan region – The autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq is pressuring Facebook to stop censoring Kurdish content, and has asked users of the social media platform to report blocked Kurdish posts.

“Kurdish Facebook users have reported concerns as to unfair removal or blockage of Kurdish cultural content and traditions by Facebook content monitors,” said the KRG’s representative office in the United States.

“If this has happened to you, KRG-US invites you to share your experience,” the office said, asking Kurdish Facebook users to email screenshots of blocked content to  HYPERLINK "mailto:kurd.facebook@gmail.com" kurd.facebook@gmail.com.

Karwan Zebari, the KRG’s Director for Congressional & Academic Affairs in the US, told Rudaw that the office had received many emails reporting blockage or removal of content.

“We presented that to Facebook, and they have already revised their policy toward Kurdish activism on Facebook,” he said. “For example, they will no longer take down or censor the Kurdish flag.” he said. “We have their attention and they are cooperating well with us.”

But content supporting the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), will still be taken down.

Last week, on the 14^th anniversary of Turkey’s capture of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, Kurds complained that Facebook had removed pictures of the imprisoned leader.  Syrian Kurds on Facebook also complained that pictures of Kurdish-Syrian fighters were removed.

A former employee of the company oDesk, which used to filter offensive content on Facebook, leaked the website'sHYPERLINK "http://publicintelligence.net/facebook-abuse-standards/" secret rulebook of detailed instructions last year.  An HYPERLINK "http://www.scribd.com/doc/81877124/Abuse-Standards-6-2-Operation-Manual"updated content manual does not ban Kurdish flags, but still disallows Kurdish symbols. “Ignore Kurdistan flags,” the latest rules tell Facebook content moderators.  Facebook still includes prohibitions on maps of Kurdistan.  

Zebari told Rudaw the KRG could not do much about the ban on PKK content. 

“The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization in the US and Europe. We approached Facebook about all Kurdish-related censorship issues, and they said that PKK is out of the question because Facebook refuses to be the medium for a terrorist organization's propaganda. That's why PKK is not included; it's Facebook's policy and not ours.”

Roj Welat, a spokesperson of the PKK told Rudaw, “Facebook should not take any side in this terror against the Kurdish people.”

Zana Genc, a UK-based Kurd, said that to test the ban he had placed the PKK’s logo on a post on his Facebook.  “Within seconds I got a message saying you have been banned from Facebook for sharing prohibited material.”