Facebook vigilant regarding Berlusconi content

Posted by Helena Humphrey on December 16, 2009 at 11:56 AM

On Tuesday social networking site Facebook announced that it is to monitor all content regarding Silvio Berlusconi posted to its site, in light of the attack on the Italian Prime Minister earlier this week, the New York Times reported. 20 percent of the population in Italy have Facebook accounts.

A fan page created for the man believed to be responsible for the attack, Massimo Tartaglia, amassed 100,000 users in less than 48 hours - until it was shut down by Facebook officials, who are no doubt extra wary about staying on the right side of the law, having already been forced to remove the group "Let's Kill Berlusconi," after the site received complaints from government officials. Furthermore, four Google execs face a criminal trial in Milan today, accused of neglecting to monitor the content on one of its video sites sufficiently, something Facebook will of course be looking to avoid.

To those suspicious of this move, a Facebook spokesperson has replied, stating that Facebook was merely carrying out its duty in Italy as it would in any other country, adding:

"Promoting violence, or posting threatening content, is not permitted on Facebook," the social-networking site said. "We will take quick action to respond to reports, and remove any content reported to us that makes direct threats against an individual."

Source: the New York Times