Protecting Your Privacy on Facebook
For most of us it's hard to master the ever evolving privacy settings on Facebook. Using Facebook effectively, though, means using it cautiously - paying attention to privacy settings, Terms of Service and other changes to the Facebook platform is essential.
It's even more important if you're using the platform to organize.
To take a couple examples, leaders of the Pink Chaddi Campaign in India used Facebook as a tool to tell people about thier movement and organize an offline campaign for women in India to send in pink "chaddis" or underware as a form of protest against conservative groups. While Facebook served as an important tool for activism, it soon became a liability when their page was hacked. Because of the hateful speech that the hackers wrote on the page, Facebook mistakenly suspended the account of Nisha Susan, the groups legitimate creator. Luckily, Susan was able to quickly get her account reactivated, but this just highlights the importance of protecting your privacy settings on Facebook - especially when you're posting controversial content.
Most recently, there have been reports of authorities in Syria arresting activists and forcing them to hand over their login information. The same occurred in Iran, and the hacking of Tunisian authorities during the uprising there was well documented.
Here are some first steps towards organizing effectively and securely on Facebook.
