Facebook recently added the head of one of Afghanistan's most important domestic aid groups to its Dangerous Individuals terror blacklist, The Intercept news organization reported.The news organization reported that Matiul Haq Khalis — head of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, or ARCS and a former Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) negotiator — was added to the company's censorship list in late April, joining a group of thousands of people and organizations deemed too dangerous to freely discuss or use the platform, including alleged terrorists, hate groups, drug cartels, and mass murderers.But Facebook's designation now means that the list, ostensibly created and enforced to stop offline harm, could disrupt the work of a globally recognized organization working to ease the immiseration of tens of millions of civilians, The Intercept reported.After the collapse of the United States -backed government and withdrawal of American military forces, Khalis was named president of the organization, which helps provide health care, food, and other humanitarian aid to civilians there since its founding in 1934.Following Khalis's addition to the Dangerous Individuals list under its most restrictive &Tier 1& category for terrorists due to his IEA affiliation, the over two billion Facebook and Instagram users around the world are now barred from praising, supporting, or representing Khalis.This means even a photo of him at an official ARCS event, quotation of remarks, or positive mention of him in the context of the organization's aid work would risk deletion, as would any attempt on his part to use the company's platform to communicate, either in Afghanistan or abroad.John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch questioned the extent to which letting people speak freely of Khalis would endanger anyone or anything.
&How is he ‘dangerous&? He's like 65 years old.
He has no militia.
His father was a mujahedeen commander, but what is the problem here?Sifton pointed to groups that are actively using the platform to incite violence.
&There are hate guys in India that are spreading toxic anti-Muslim violence across Facebook, Hindu nationalist groups, hateful Buddhist groups in Burma, that's a real problem.
Having Khalis online posting about how he cut the ribbon at a new hospital in Afghanistan, that's not part of the problem.Facebook has at times defended the breadth of its blacklist by claiming, without evidence, that it's legally required to censor discussion of certain entities in order to comply with United States sanctions law, though neither the ARCS nor Khalis are currently named in the Treasury or State Department's counterterrorism sanctions lists, The Intercept reported.The post Head of Afghan Red Crescent Society on Facebook censorship list first appeared on Ariana News.