Update 16 June 2015
We’re disappointed, and fankly a little shocked, to see that on review Facebook have again rejected our report of the group “Its Not Rape If You Holler Surprise”. The group made by secondary school children 5 years ago is inactive, but sends a negative message which still shows up on Facebook and in search results. We encourage our supporters to keep reporting this group and urge Facebook to take another look. An inactive group from 5 years ago adds nothing of value to the Facebook platform, while the mere existance of a group witht his name sends a strong negative message when it turns up in search results. Facebook’s claim that they now oppose rape jokes ring hollow while they allow group like this to remain on their platform.
Original article
Rape is nothing to joke about, especially on social media. The viral nature of public social media content, which can get shared with millions within a matter of days, is a poor medium for “private jokes”. Take for example the Facebook group “Its Not Rape If You Holler Surprise” (Facebook id# 102253429848108) which was created on November 16, 2010. This public group has been inactive for years but still has 11 members, including the group’s creator, and still appears in search results. Despite being reported, Facebook has not closed the group.
Keeping a group like this on the Facebook platform, and having the message “Its Not Rape If You Holler Surprise” appear in search results as a result of that, mocks the millions of victims of sexual violence around the globe. A recent report by the Clinton Foundation states that one in three women worldwide has experienced physical or sexual violence, the vast majority at the hands of her husband or partner. In fact the report calls the problem of violence against women “a global epidemic”.
A few years ago, Facebook allowed rape jokes under the pretext of “controversial humour”. However, after strident protests by women’s groups across the globe, including a campaign to get companies to boycott advertising with Facebook, the platform changed its stance in May 2013 and apologized for having allowed “rape jokes to remain on the platform”. In light of this it is disappointing to find Facebook have not removed this group despite it being reported as hate speech.
Please help us by taking a minute to report this group to Facebook. If enough people report it, hopefully Facebook will reconsider.
To report the group:
1. Visit it on Facebook by clicking here
2. Next to the “Join Group” button is a button with three dots on it (“…”) click this button, then select “Report Group”.
3. Select “Hate Speech”
4. Select “Targets based on gender or orientation”
5. Click “Submit to Facebook for Review”
6. Share this briefing using the buttons at the top of the page, if you haven’t done so yet, please like our Facebook page for combating all forms of online hate