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from the social-networking,-Sicily-style dept

Wed, Jan 21st 2009 8:34pm — Carlo Longino

Sicilian police are moving into some new territory in their ongoing fight against the Mafia: Facebook. They're keeping tabs on several groups devoted to convicted Mafia members, suspicious that they're online gathering places for people interested in more than just some harmless social networking. There have also been calls in Italy for Facebook to shut down the groups, which it hasn't yet done, while Facebook groups protesting the Mafia groups have also sprouted up -- illustrating that the ideal response to speech some people find offensive is more speech. But the groups are also exposing the dangerous path that Facebook and other site owners start down if they begin removing material that some people find offensive, but isn't illegal. One of the anti-Mafia groups is called "Yes to Breasts, No to Totò Riina," highlighting the fact that Facebook recently removed pictures of breast-feeding mothers, but has let the pages touting the Mafia members stand.

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Filed Under: mafia, sicily, social networks

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Anonymous Coward, 21 Jan 2009 @ 10:32pm

fuh git about it
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Jan 2009 @ 11:27pm

dont be a "wiseguy" :)
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- Anonymous Coward, 22 Jan 2009 @ 6:15am
  
  Re:
  HEY. YOU THINK THIS ARTICLE IS HERE TO AMUSE YOU!?
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  - who?, 22 Jan 2009 @ 7:21pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Hey, Lighten up man. This article is pretty funny. Does the sicilian police really think that if they shut down these "mafia" groups on facebook that its really going to stop anything or anybody? Most likely its a couple of teenagers in iowa.
    
    Even if what they said is true its not like its the only avenue of communicating. Wake up bro!
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    - Tommy DeVito, 26 Jan 2009 @ 6:04am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      *cough - Goodfellas joke - cough*
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Jan 2009 @ 6:30am

Since When
are the Sicilian Police interested in stopping the Mafia? Its the only industry they have left?
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