INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightRizwan WadanImage caption
Rizwan Wadan, who worked on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, said social media
extremism filters were potentially 'dangerous'
A filmmaker says social media rules to prevent extremist material going
online are thwarting his attempts to tackle hatred and extremism.Rizwan Wadan said algorithms used by Facebook and TikTok were making it
hard to promote his films.Mr Wadan, 38, of Luton, said automatic filtering of words such as "jihad" and "terror," forced users underground
to learn about and discuss the issues.Facebook said his trailer broke its ban on "sensational content" in adverts.Mr Wadan, based at
Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, developed camera stabilisation systems and has worked on films including Rogue One: A Star Wars
challenge people to rethink their views.Image copyrightPixeleyed Pictures Image caption
Mr Wadan said his work to tackle
terrorism and hatred was hard to promote on Facebook and TikTok
But he said trailers for his work have been "restricted" on
Facebook and said TikTok removed the content because it was deemed to break its guidelines
"If we have algorithms that pick up words like 'terrorism' and 'jihad,' if we're not allowed to discuss these things on social media
platforms, then people who need to learn about this get pushed underground," he said."They might start to learn about these things from
people abroad where jihad is applied very differently and it could encourage individuals to get into revenge and retaliation, and this is
"It's the responsibility of social media platforms to allow this kind of discussion to take place."A Facebook spokeswoman said: "In this
case, the advertisement highlighted was rejected for violating our advertising policies on sensational content, which state adverts must not
contain shocking, sensational, disrespectful or excessively violent content."TikTok has been approached for a comment.The government
recently announced plans to give regulator Ofcom more powers to police social media to force companies to quickly remove harmful
content.Image copyrightGetty Images
