16/07/2019
Facebook has been in trouble with many minorities before. The number of anti-Semitic web pages it allows has turned many Jewish people away from the social media platform, and homophobia is so rampant on it that some activists launched a campaign called “Stamp Out Homophobia on Facebook” in 2014. Facebook moderators seem to add to this situation by routinely blocking LGBT people's posts on the grounds of “guidelines” although these seem to depend on the personal interpretations of individual moderators and are highly inconsistent. Now the left wing weekly paper Socialist Worker reveals that activists are mobilising to protest Facebook after a man was told that his disabled rights website was being blocked. Correspondence Ellen Clifford reports that the webpage “Access Ability” was closed down because apparently, some people find images of disabilities disturbing. The group DPAC, which is a national disabled activist group, is planning on protesting against Facebook. Meanwhile, Ms Clifford contends “Disabilism is fostered by capitalists as a way to manage “unproductive labour”. We must challenge prejudice, but to end the oppression of disabled people, we need to get rid of capitalism”. Meanwhile, if you are interested in hearing about disabled rights, issues and struggles, plus plenty of good music, then the disabled community's national radio network is for you. Able Radio transmits twenty four hours a day on the internet from studios in Torfaen, South Wales. It has also ventured into making accessible television via the You Tube platform.