Facebook failed to stop the sale of a 16-year-old Sudanese girl via
a recent
auction on its site. Oops. Hate that when that happens. “Our bad.”
The post requesting dowry bids
for the girl apparently first appeared on October 25th. The winner reportedly
gave the girl’s father 500 cows, three cars and $10,000 cash in exchange for
his daughter, whom he married on November 3rd. A Facebook
spokesperson said, in a statement to FOX Business,
that the social media behemoth removed the post as soon as it knew about it…on
November 9th, more than two weeks after it went up. The spokesperson
predictably sniffed: “Any form of human trafficking - whether posts, pages, ads
or groups is not allowed on Facebook. We removed the post and permanently
disabled the account belonging to the person who posted this to Facebook.”
The auctioning off of a young girl on social media has
understandably outraged some children’s rights groups, Plan International in
particular. George Otim, the country director for Plan International South
Sudan issued a statement saying: “That a girl could be sold for marriage on the
world’s biggest social networking site in this day and age is beyond belief.
This barbaric use of technology is reminiscent of latter-day slave markets.”
Just so.
However, like many other human rights, social justice and feminist
groups, Plan International is pro-abortion, even if more discreetly so than other
organizations. Its CEO, Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, proudly proclaims that Plan
International is transforming from a “childs’ rights organization” to a “girls’
rights organization.” (Because we all know that any boy that doesn’t transition
to a girl at an early age is a simmering vessel of toxic masculinity waiting to
wreak havoc on the planet…and thus unworthy of “rights”). Albrectsen further
avers: “And we will champion the adolescent girl’s sexual and reproductive health and rights
in all its forms,” adding that the “key point in the girl-child’s life” is “the
day she gets her period.” She sites the U.N.’s sustainable development goals
(SDGs) stemming from the 1994 population conference in Cairo with regard to
girls’ “reproductive health” and “rights,” which by modern-day definition necessarily
include abortion.
We are certainly currently trafficking in human hypocrisy, with social media giants such as Facebook hosting auctions for child brides and live executions while snarkily disparaging—or outright banning-- posts touting traditional mores and Judeo-Christian values.
I myself would give cows, cars and cash to Silicone Valley’s tech firm bigwigs if it would help marry them to logic, reason and decency. Period.
We are certainly currently trafficking in human hypocrisy, with social media giants such as Facebook hosting auctions for child brides and live executions while snarkily disparaging—or outright banning-- posts touting traditional mores and Judeo-Christian values.
I myself would give cows, cars and cash to Silicone Valley’s tech firm bigwigs if it would help marry them to logic, reason and decency. Period.