this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2025
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Facebook flags Linux topics as 'cybersecurity threats' — posts and users being blocked (www.tomshardware.com)
submitted 2 days ago by schizoidman@lemm.ee to c/technology@lemmy.world
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cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/18210719

Archived

Facebook is banning posts that mention various Linux-related topics, sites, or groups. Some users may also see their accounts locked or limited when posting Linux topics. Major open-source operating system news, reviews, and discussion site DistroWatch is at the center of the controversy, as it seems to be the first to have noticed that Facebook's Community Standards had blackballed it.

[...]

DistroWatch says that the Facebook ban took effect on January 19. Readers have reported difficulty posting links to the site on this social media platform. Moreover, some have told DistroWatch that their Facebook accounts have been locked or limited after sharing posts mentioning Linux topics.

If you're wondering if there might be something specific to DistroWatch.com, something on the site that the owners/operators perhaps don't even know about, for example, then it seems pretty safe to rule out such a possibility. Reports show that "multiple groups associated with Linux and Linux discussions have either been shut down or had many of their posts removed." However, we tested a few other Facebook posts with mentions of Linux, and they didn't get blocked immediately.

[...]

Addition to include the DistroWatch link: https://distrowatch.com/weekly-mobile.php?issue=20250127#sitenews

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[–] LordKitsuna@lemmy.world 21 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I mean they are not wrong, Linux is a very big threat of good cyber security which makes it harder for them to collect information. I am not at all surprised that Facebook views cyber security practices as a threat( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[–] probably2high@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

My initial instinct is that it's not about security (obviously), but the beginning of the attack of FOSS, since China dunked on everyone with their AI model, that can now be used by anyone freely while performing similarly (with the appropriate resources) rather than the ever-growing product making you pay for their useless snake oil.

[–] john89@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

You're definitely onto something. This isn't the first time corporations have targeted FOSS, but because Linux is gaining in popularity we're starting to see the old FUD and EEE tactics come back into play.

Once we start seeing more normal people using it, primarily women, we'll also see tons of misinformation that exists to sow the seeds of doubt in their minds.

Probably something like the old "mac vs. PC" commercials but with "windows vs. linux"

[–] probably2high@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

This is a hilarious thought, because you know Windows Chad couldn't get through two sentences before vomiting out something about AI "Linux can't even have Copilot baked into the fiber of every piece of the system like Windows does, Linux is just an old fashioned computer."

Might be the one thing that would actually bring the year of the Linux desktop.