Abused on Facebook, 8 women from Kerala push for a change

Thiruvananthapuram: Eight women from Kerala have now joined hands with a campaign called 'For a Better FB', with support from no less than 75 international online organisations. “I was the one who was abused but it was my ID that Facebook blocked thrice,” said Preetha G, 41, a single mother. “When I reported the abusive comments to Facebook in Malayalam, I got a response that said it does not violate our community standards.” But it is not just the abuse and victimisation by other users they have to face, said the women. Jaseela C V, 28, said she faced abuse when she supported a man who got arrested for not standing up during the national anthem at a cinema hall. “I was abused, my profile was reported and I was shocked when Facebook sent me a message saying I was using a fake name, when actually I was using my real name.” They have now asked Facebook to get rid of the real name policy and the need to provide government identification for verification, dedicate personnel to assess hate pages and linguistic experts who can understand the complexity of the non-English cultures.