Facebook users and the national media are wringing their hands over the appalling poll that was posted on Facebook asking users if Barack Obama should be assassinated.
Facebook has since taken down the poll, created by a third party user, and now the Secret Service is investigating its source.
Case closed for Barack Obama, but should Facebook have offered the same courtesy to his predecessor?
Several groups on Facebook are dedicated to the demise of George W. Bush. Most of the dozen or so groups dedicated to killing him however, have only a few followers, but some of them have become quite popular.
For example there is a group named “We all Want To Kill George Bush” with 429 members, and LETS KILL BUSH WITH SHOES has 484 members.
The optimistic leader of the group “I bet that I can find 1000000 people who wanted to kill Bush” has fallen short with 518 members.
A quick search for any threatening groups towards Bill Clinton suggests that he got off the hook, but his wife Hillary has earned a few threatening fans such as the members of the group “Kill Hillary” and “If Hillary Clinton is Elected, I’m shooting her.”
Fortunately only 7 members joined the group “If 20 people join we’re going to pay the Russians to kill Hillary Clinton.”
It’s clear that the Secret Service’s job is to take threats to the president seriously but what should be the standards for Facebook?
Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt admitted to the San Jose Mercury News that Facebook frequently disables content that violates its taste standards, and says that, “There is a lot of gray area.”
Should that gray area include all politicians?
