Two weeks ago, it came to my attention that Facebook had been ignoring pro-rape groups for two months. That's an awfully long time for the social networking giant to ignore groups such as "What's 10 inches and gets girls to have sex with me? My knife," "Abducting, raping and violently murdering your friend, as a joke," and "You know she's playing hard to get when your chasing her down an alleyway." The last group received over 350,000 likes.
Change.org responded by launching a petition (found here) that demanded Facebook take down these groups that promote sexual violence. They did not reach their goal of 200,000 signatures (although they are pretty close).
Even online sensation Perez Hilton stepped in, saying "why the hell did it take [Facebook] so long?"
Now, I've mentioned before that I am a huge proponent of First Amendment freedom of expression. As a journalist, I'd have to be - it gives me the freedom of the press. As a citizen, I have freedom to protest peaceably. As an American, I have the right to freedom of speech.
But there are limitations to this freedom of speech. My undergraduate law professor, Dr. Kitchin, spent an entire semester teaching us about these limitations. Most people know that you cannot falsely shout "fire" in a crowded theater. But speech is also limited by the Miller test, which in part limits obscene speech. (If you like legalese like I do, you can read the case here) I would call this speech obscene.
The Facebook pro-rape groups are not the only instance of this abomination. In 2008, a 25-year-old British woman was drugged and repeatedly raped. The rape was filmed on a mobile phone and uploaded to Youtube. Although Youtube removed the video, it was viewed over 600 times, said British newspaper The Sun.
This morning came the final straw for me writing this post. Equality Now wrote an article in 2009 that came to my attention on Facebook today. It is an article about a Japanese video game called RapeLay. Your mission? Repeatedly rape a woman and her daughters "until they begin to 'enjoy' the experience."
More than that,the following comments were written at the beginning of the Equality Now article:
These words, to me, are actually painful to read. These are actual human beings. There are people out there right now - eating dinner, watching TV, shopping at the grocery store - who believe this is truth. I pass these people on the street. Hell, I might even know someone who thinks this.
All I can say is that rape is not funny. We must fight together to overcome the ignorance and hostility of the few. We must be empowered by our gender, race, sexual preferences, age, and whatever else makes us who we are. We are better than this. We are strong.
And now, to speak directly to those with these viewpoints. You, the 135,000 who "liked" a pro-rape Facebook page. You, who viewed a woman being drugged and raped and said nothing. You, who play these games where you senselessly rape women and laugh with your friends. I have only three words for you.
Shame on you.
If you have been sexually assaulted, there is help. Contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE or online at http://www.rainn.org/.
Thank you for blogging about this! Freedom of speech was created to protect the right of the individual, not to promote violent and abusive ideas.
ReplyDeleteHeavy stuff, Carin, thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteHey Nora, thank you! These are the topics that people don't like to talk about, but I think it's important that we do. It might not be uplifting, but it's certainly relevant.
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