In an odd move, Facebook has started banning posts related to Linux. On January 19th, 2025, when users tried to post Linux-related content on Facebook, they weren’t able to do so. For some reason, Facebook’s internal policy has now started to label Linux-related content as “cybersecurity threats” which massively affected platforms like DistroWatch.
Facebook internally classified Linux as malware and started removing posts that mention Linux. Many people reported that their accounts were getting locked and banned when posting about Linux or sharing links to sites like DistroWatch. DistroWatch also noticed the ban and writer Jesse Smith appealed to Facebook only to find his own account locked.
Users even reported that even older comments that mention DistroWatch are getting removed for being against Facebook’s Community Guidelines.
It’s ironic that Facebook is banning Linux content since much of its own infrastructure relies on Linux, as pointed out by DistroWatch. The Linux community website stated that it faced similar issues in the past, the most recent experience being when Twitter was changed to X.
We went through a similar experience when Twitter changed its name to X – suddenly accounts which had been re-posting news from our RSS feeds were no longer able to share links. This sort of censorship is an unpleasant side-effect of centralized communication platforms such as X, Facebook, Google+, and so on.
For Linux enthusiasts, DistroWatch said that it recommends readers seek information about Linux from platforms outside of Facebook. The website now also has a Mastodon account where it will post its updates regularly and has an RSS feed that readers can also subscribe to.
Facebook or Meta did not provide any public statements regarding the change in their guidelines.
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