Thursday, March 28, 2024
ADVT 
International

Remarkable Mother Teresa Deemed Hate Speech: US Senator Ted Cruz Slams Twitter

Darpan News Desk IANS, 12 Apr, 2019 08:46 PM

    A top US Senator has criticised Twitter and Facebook for blocking Mother Teresa's quote on abortion, saying the pattern of censorship by the two social media giants is "really dangerous".


    Texas Senator Ted Cruz on Thursday alleged that the top officials of Twitter and Facebook were unable to respond to a question on blocking Mother Teresa's quote on abortion as hate crime


    Mother Teresa, the founder of Missionaries of Charity, is revered for her work with the poor in India.


    "Here is a tweet that says abortion is profoundly anti-women and it is a quote from Mother Teresa and this tweet was blocked. Now it is remarkable that Mother Teresa is now deemed hate speech. Do either of you would agree with the proposition that Mother Teresa is issuing hate speech? Is this hate speech?" Ted Cruz asked during a Congressional hearing on Wednesday.


    Ted Cruz said that there is a pattern of censorship of conservative and pro-life voices on social media platforms, including posts from the Susan B Anthony List organisation and the marketing campaign of the new pro-life movie "Unplanned".


    "They (the extreme left and big tech companies) say if you don't want to be censored, just don't say things we disagree with," Ted Cruz told Fox News.


    "That's really the arrogance. We see that on college campuses. We see that in big tech. We had testimony today, for example, we had the producer of the movie "Unplanned", a phenomenal movie -- true story of Abby Johnson, former clinic director of Planned Parenthood who became a pro-life activist," he said.


    Cruz alleged that Google refused to run their ads and Twitter took down their web page.


    "They did everything they could. The big networks all refused to carry their ads, and nonetheless, it became the number four movie in the country. It's in the theatres right now. We see this pattern repeatedly.


    "We heard testimony from the Susan B Anthony List about how repeatedly pro-life tweets, pro-life posts have been censored. We had during the hearing today, I put up a tweet that was sent out from the Susan B Anthony list -- a quote from Mother Teresa that Twitter censored. I asked Twitter, ''Do you consider this quote from Mother Teresa to be hate


    Without directly answering the question, Facebook Public Policy Director Neil Potts said a lot of this depends on intent and the context of statements or images or videos that are shared.


    "But in general pro-life position would not be violating our community standards for hate speech. I -- the Mother Teresa quote did not -- would not violate ours and -- and to be -- just for complete transparency, we consult a range of groups across the spectrum, across all lyrical ideologies to try to help inform our policies," he said.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Vijay Mallya Denied Permission To Appeal Against Extradition By UK Court

    Vijay Mallya Denied Permission To Appeal Against Extradition By UK Court
    A UK High Court judge has denied embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya permission to appeal against his extradition order to India to face alleged fraud and money-laundering charges amounting to Rs 9,000 crore.

    Vijay Mallya Denied Permission To Appeal Against Extradition By UK Court

    Indian Doctor Goes Missing In UK, Police Seek Help

    Indian Doctor Goes Missing In UK, Police Seek Help
    An Indian doctor has been missing from her home in Herefordshire, West England, since last week, the police said.    

    Indian Doctor Goes Missing In UK, Police Seek Help

    International Space Station Infested With Bacteria Like Gym On Earth: NASA

    Specific microbes in indoor spaces on Earth have been shown to impact human health.

    International Space Station Infested With Bacteria Like Gym On Earth: NASA

    Judge Overturns Ruling Involving Court Battle Over Diamond-Studded Eagle

    A protracted court battle over a gold, diamond-studded eagle statue has landed in favour of a major insurance company

    Judge Overturns Ruling Involving Court Battle Over Diamond-Studded Eagle

    Looters Prey On Quebec Schooner Awaiting Salvage On A Cuban Beach: Owner

    Looters Prey On Quebec Schooner Awaiting Salvage On A Cuban Beach: Owner
    For two weeks, everything has been in place to remove the schooner from the beach, but for reasons that remain unclear, Cuban authorities have delayed issuing a permit for a tug from the Cayman Islands requisitioned by Epars' insurer

    Looters Prey On Quebec Schooner Awaiting Salvage On A Cuban Beach: Owner

    Pakistan To Release 360 Indian Prisoners As ‘Goodwill Gesture’

    Pakistan To Release 360 Indian Prisoners As ‘Goodwill Gesture’
    Pakistan on Friday announced that it will release 360 Indian prisoners, mostly fishermen, this month in four phases, as a “goodwill gesture” amidst tensions between the two countries after the Pulwama terror attack

    Pakistan To Release 360 Indian Prisoners As ‘Goodwill Gesture’