Here are my thoughts.
1. Don't commit crimes. If saying or writing a given phrase is a crime in the country you reside in, don't say it and don't write it. This poor man was apparently aware of this, given he deleted his comments a few minutes after writing it. Unfortunately, too late: in the meantime, some extremists had the time to screenshot his comment and send them to his employer.
2. Related, how did Saudi Arabia attorney establish that the comment was authentic? Nothing could be easier than doctoring a screenshot. Did they get Facebook to cooperate and confirm this comment was indeed posted by this man? The articles don't mention this.
3. I hope Sri Lanka and other countries will put pressure on Saudi Arabia to get this man a pardon.
4. It would be very easy for Facebook to implement automated censorship of comments that would cause their author to be killed, imprisoned, or fined. This is obviously censorship, but useful censorship. With Jev or similar models you could do it for a few hundreds of cents per comment, if that, and no doubt Facebook could do it for even cheaper.
2. Related, how did Saudi Arabia attorney establish that the comment was authentic? Nothing could be easier than doctoring a screenshot. Did they get Facebook to cooperate and confirm this comment was indeed posted by this man? The articles don't mention this.
3. I hope Sri Lanka and other countries will put pressure on Saudi Arabia to get this man a pardon.
4. It would be very easy for Facebook to implement automated censorship of comments that would cause their author to be killed, imprisoned, or fined. This is obviously censorship, but useful censorship. With Jev or similar models you could do it for a few hundreds of cents per comment, if that, and no doubt Facebook could do it for even cheaper.