A user criticized a photo on Facebook that, according to Facebook, does not violate community standards .
The highly disturbing image shows a man kneeling on a baby and aiming an assault rifle at the head. The picture appears to be real - we have researched the background.
It's about the following picture that was published by the Facebook page "Özel harekat":
(mimikama: we deliberately pixelated the image. This can be seen on FB without pixelation)
There is the following caption in Turkish:
Kan donduran bu fotoğrafı herkes paylaşsın arkadaşlar bu şerefsiz bulunup deşifre edilmeli her türlü yorum serbestdir…
A German-speaking Facebook user then reported the picture and received the following response from Facebook:
He then wrote an angry reaction to Facebook, but we don't know whether he actually sent it:
We are not linking to the profile at this point: the Facebook user shares numerous fakes/hybrid fakes!
backgrounds
The image was not uploaded first by the site “Özel harekat”. There are numerous primarily Arabic-language sources that use the photo. This also includes some news portals.
These all basically tell the same backstory:
- The picture was taken in Yemen.
- It has led to violent protests both inside and outside social networks there and in other countries in the region.
- In particular, it is demanded that the perpetrator be held accountable.
Numerous users then shared the image on Facebook, Twitter and Co.
This is a private public investigation
As on other sites, “Özel harekat” also calls for people to share this photo and – quote! – “Finding a bastard”. The report to Facebook that it was a depiction that promotes violence is not true here. This is about a private one! – Wanted call.
At this point we would also like to point out that such private search calls should be viewed extremely critically.
In addition to the risk of catching the “wrong person” – for example due to deliberately discrediting fakes – you also cannot be sure whether the person is still wanted. They have often already been convicted and constantly sharing old pictures can jeopardize their rehabilitation. Only the public prosecutor's office is authorized to initiate public searches. Anyone who starts or even shares private search calls can quickly find themselves in the sights of the public prosecutor or be prosecuted under civil law.
The “Özel harekat” page and why the criticism is hypocritical
The “Özel harekat” page is a Facebook page. The term is Turkish and stands for “special operations”. If you look at the page, it becomes clear that this refers to the Special Operations Department of the Turkish Police. However, it is not the official Facebook page of the counter-terrorism unit.
For the reasons mentioned above, private search calls must be viewed critically.
Apparently the person who reported the picture is concerned about this, but not about the picture itself. After all, he uploaded it himself and it has been shared 112 times so far. In doing so, he himself contributes to the dissemination of the image.
This makes it clear: It's not that he doesn't want to see the picture anymore because it would promote violence, but that he's only interested in presenting himself as “the good guy”. Based on his Facebook profile, one can have considerable doubts about this.
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )