Facebook Reinstates Danish Nationalist’s Post on Immigrants
Facebook Removes Danish Nationalist’s Post Deemed Hateful
(Bloomberg) -- Facebook has reinstated a post by a former member of parliament in Denmark after judging that its criticism of the country’s immigration office for employing a woman of dual Danish-Afghan nationality did not violate rules on hateful speech.
“Our guidelines are intended to strike the right balance between supporting freedom of expression while not allowing hateful speech. After closer examination, we have assessed that the post was incorrectly taken down and have restored it,” a Facebook spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
Martin Henriksen of the Danish People’s Party had posted a photograph of the employee on July 9, accompanied by comments suggesting her background might prompt her to treat asylum-seekers and immigrants more favorably. Henriksen said it would be “inappropriate” for the immigration office to employ foreigners, even if they do hold Danish citizenship.
The social media platform initially removed the post after judging it to have violated its policy on hate speech, news agency Ritzau reported earlier on Friday.
Henriksen had described the decision as “an attack on freedom of speech.”
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.