Facebook has shut down a support group dedicated to Pravin Gordhan after it was deemed to have grown “too quickly” and broke the limits set in place on the social network.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan continues to face off against the Hawks during an investigation into a rogue SARS unit he allegedly founded, and now Facebook has found itself neck deep in hot water after it effectively shut down a group dedicated to spreading messages of support for the embattled finance minister.
Gordhan, who has allegedly found himself at loggerheads with President Jacob Zuma, was the subject of a Facebook group entitled “œSupport for Pravin Gordhan and a better South Africa“.
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SowetanLive reports that Facebook has effectively shut down the group after the social network deemed that members were inviting others “too fast”.
The group’s administrator, Satish Dhupelia, and other members found themselves blocked from adding new members to the group on Sunday.
Facebook’s response
On its help page, Facebook’s terms of use vaguely cites that “œWe have limits in place to prevent abuse of our features and to protect people from spam and harassment. Limits are based on different factors“š like speed and quantity“š but we can‘t provide additional details on the rate limits that are enforced.“
See the Facebook group here
Dhupelia, speaking to The Times, quipped that “œI really don‘t know what to think. I find it suspicious. If you stop me from adding people“š because I did add 4000 friends and if they didn‘t want to be on the group“š then maybe you can block me from adding people. But to block every member from adding even one person to the group is strange.“
“œThis is a group that has grown with phenomenal interest. It shot up to 13 400 people overnight before Facebook stopped us from growing and I think that the title of the group is what creates the interest… When I wrote to Facebook“š I said this is a civic organisation and we need to grow this.”
“œI didn‘t start this on my own. A handful of us feel that things are not right in this country and we see Pravin as a shining star especially after watching that video in which he said that students could have their fees totally dropped if we stop all this corruption. We think we really need to do something“š we need to show how we feel and we need to show our support.“
So far, Facebook’s administrators have not responded to queries for comment.
Spam watch
The incident is less likely to reflect a politically motivated attack; the possibility is greater that thanks to the virality of the group it exceeded Facebook’s supported limits for both impression (reaching new people), addition (adding new group members), and/or engagement (how often people like, share, or comment on a post or in a group).
A possibility remains that the group was at some stage reported by a Facebook user, which would have seen Facebook evaluate it for spam or offensive material.
This isn’t the first occasion Facebook has found itself in political waters; the social network came under fire this year for allegedly suppressing American conservative news in its Trending news section in an incident referred to as TrendingGate.
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Have your say!
What are your thoughts on the news that Facebook has effectively shut down Satish Dhupelia’s Pravin Gordhan support group? Be sure to let us know your opinion in the comments below!
Follow Bryan Smith on Twitter: @bryansmithSA
Source: TimesLive
