Campaign against Facebook after Nobel Laureate Tawakkol Kerman is appointed to the “Council of Wise”

Angry reactions have spread through social media in the Arab region since the appointment of the Nobel Peace Prize winner Facebook company in Yemen in 2011, to depose Kerman in the Council of Wise who will decide on the controversial content on the site.

Kerman is a former member of the Yemeni Rally for Reform Party, which is the arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen, which is banned in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain.

The tag “#NO_Tawakkol_Karman” ranked first in Egypt, and some Egyptian tweets described the Facebook move as “enabling the Muslim Brotherhood to monitor content in the Arab region.”

فيسبوك عمل لجنة اخلاقيات عليا حط فيها مدام توكل كرمان للاشراف علي البوستس التي تخص منطقتنا، هذا معناه اعطاء اشراف علي فيس بوك مصر للاخوان مباشرةً! هي عدوة صريحة لانظمة سياسية من مصر للسعودية للامارات، اما سيتم حذفها من اللجنة او مصير فيسبوك سيكون اغلاق! https://t.co/Tfh4iQ3lrK

— Hany Ragy (@Hragy) May 7, 2020

On Wednesday, Facebook announced Kerman, a journalist, activist, and political advocate for women’s rights, as part of a council that would serve as a “supreme court” that includes diverse personalities from all countries, professions, and languages.

Mugherd demanded that Facebook ads stop as a protest step against the appointment.

فيسبوك عمل لجنة اخلاقيات عليا حط فيها مدام توكل كرمان للاشراف علي البوستس التي تخص منطقتنا، هذا معناه اعطاء اشراف علي فيس بوك مصر للاخوان مباشرةً! هي عدوة صريحة لانظمة سياسية من مصر للسعودية للامارات، اما سيتم حذفها من اللجنة او مصير فيسبوك سيكون اغلاق! https://t.co/Tfh4iQ3lrK

— Hany Ragy (@Hragy) May 7, 2020

As for this song, she announced her refusal to have Kerman on the council in Arabic and English.

#أرفض_الارهابية_توكل_كرمان_أن_تكون_من_حكماء_فيسبوك
# I refuse_terrorism_tokkol_kerman_to be_with_wise_ Facebook pic.twitter.com/uRrsvbLJb5

— سفيرة السلام (@O1Rx1Rjar2vkzi5) May 8, 2020

Angry reactions from Egypt expanded to other Arab countries.

@Facebook You must know that Tawakkol Karman is a member of a terrorist classified party in most Arab countries #توكل_كرمان

— متعب (@m_t551981) May 9, 2020

https://twitter.com/ABNT111/status/1258913795080101889

Facebook said that the “Supreme Court” would have the final say in keeping any content controversial or removing it from the site.

In the past years, Facebook has faced many criticisms, especially the charge of not moving aggressively to delete messages that contain hate

Brent Harris, Facebook’s director of public policy, said the new court “is the beginning of a fundamental change in the way that some decisions about the most difficult content on Facebook will be made.”

So far, the court will have 20 members divided equally between men and women.

The social networking site explained that the number of members will be raised to 40 “overtime”, stressing that these “will have important experience in several key areas” especially in freedom of expression, digital rights, religious freedom, moderate content, digital copyright or even electronic safety and censorship of Internet and transparency.