A Consortium of Pubgoing Loose and Forward Women

Dear Friends at Facebook,

I am a Facebook customer and have been using Facebook, like many millions of others all over the globe, to connect with old friends and to make new ones.

I understand that you folks at Facebook are deeply committed to making the use of your site a positive and fulfilling experience for all of us who visit it. Please extend the same commitment to us now when we have need of it. A situation has arisen for a group of Facebook users that could really use your help. I write on my own behalf and that of other users who have been affected by this misuse of Facebook.

The position is as follows:

On February 5, 2009, a Facebook user, journalist Nisha Susan of Bangalore, India, started a group to protest the beating of a number of women by religious fanatics in Southern India. She named this group “The Consortium of Pubgoing Loose and Forward Women,” an ironic reference to the fact that the victims of the assault were attacked by fanatics who felt that these women were somehow insulting “Indian culture” by going to a pub.

Within weeks, this group’s membership had grown from five members (of whom I am one) to a staggering 55,000 people from all corners of the world. The group became a forum that brought people together to participate in real-time activities to promote the cause of women’s rights in India. The group also served a greater purpose: it became a creative and vibrant space for wide-ranging debate on issues touching on all aspects of human rights - the rights of women to be treated equally, the upholding of religious freedom, and larger human rights issues were all hotly debated and discussed by dedicated users.

However, as was always a possibility with such a large and diverse group, we came under attack from hackers. In the last week or so, the attacks have evolved into a daily barrage that disrupts our ability to express ourselves freely – or at all – on the group. Several members of the group have also been the victims of vulgar abuse by the unknown hacker(s). For instance, he/she has renamed the group” A Good Bong is a Dead One,” which is a reference to people like myself, who belong to the Bengali community of India, known colloquially as “Bongs.” Many of us feel that, aside from indulging in hate-speech, the hacker also sounds rather threatening when he makes statements of this sort.

Our founder, Ms. Susan, has been nothing short of heroic, repeatedly re-installing the group in its original form, but the hack attacks have been continuous and relentless. Most activity on the group is now at a standstill. We feel our privacy and our freedom to express ourselves peacefully have been violated in no uncertain manner. Therefore we earnestly request you to look into this problem and stop a recurrence of such attacks. Some of us have already filed complaints against the hacker with the FBI’s cyber crimes division at www.ic3.gov, but we feel that you should also be notified of our predicament in order to facilitate maximum communication between all the parties involved – users, law enforcement, Facebook, and if necessary, media.

We are enthusiastic users and supporters of Facebook and would like to continue to be so. We therefore appeal to you to please help us in this regard. On the eve of your first Initial Public Offering, I feel sure you will remember that we, your customers, are a crucial part of your richly deserved success.

Please help us.