You Have Requested To Add Michael Corleone As A Friend

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.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: mafia, sicily, social networks

7 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 21 Jan 2009 @ 10:32pm

fuh git about it
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Jan 2009 @ 11:27pm

dont be a "wiseguy" :)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Jan 2009 @ 6:15am

Re:
HEY. YOU THINK THIS ARTICLE IS HERE TO AMUSE YOU!?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
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?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
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!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Tommy DeVito, 26 Jan 2009 @ 6:04am

Re: Re: Re:
*cough - Goodfellas joke - cough*
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Miu Miu Handbags paypal, 13 Oct 2010 @ 10:59pm

Miu Miu Handbags paypal
Miu Miu Handbags paypal, replica Miu Miu Handbags paypal on sale with the lowest price and great discount.We provide top grade handbags,authentic designer handbags and wallets from Miu Miu.we offer wide range of Miu Miu handbags 2010 on Sale with the wholesale price as well as fake Miu Miu Handbags paypal. Here you can find not only quality but also the latest updated designs that will fit to your taste.
[ link to this | view in thread ]