A heads up by Penny K
The US Secret Service has put a gag order on a Facebook poll asking whether US President Barack Obama should be assassinated.
Titled “Should Obama be killed?” and offered answer choices of yes, no, maybe and “If he cuts my health care”, the poll is a reflection of the growing disenchantment of some Americans regarding the President’s healthcare reforms.
“Once we found out about it, we worked with Facebook to have it removed,” Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley told AFP.
“We are certainly investigating; just like we would with any threat case,” he adds.
Netizens have had mixed responses. Some deemed the poll “sick and sad”, some called the “anti-Obama rage… pure racism.”
The poll was created just over the weekend using a third-party application that allows users conduct their own surveys, according to Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt.
All was fine until this threatening poll was created, raising the alarm bells. Facebook had to shut down the entire programme to get rid of the Obama polls since the outside developer controls surveys created with their software.
“Of course we are offended by the content of the poll but objectionable ideas are in the world and, unfortunately, manifest on Facebook,” Schnitt told AFP.
The age-old adage of the Internet being a big, scary place still holds. Hiding behind anonymity encourages bold statements which can be serious enough to be considered national threat. Always watch what you say because people will always be watching.
Source: Channel News Asia
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