Have you ever been convicted of a cyber misdemeanor and sentenced to Facebook Jail?
I’ve never been jailed by Facebook – at least not yet. But they deleted one of my Islam related news posts once. As I recall the article was all over Facebook, so I was miffed that mine was removed. My reasoned guess is that a Facebook friend wasn’t amused and reported it. I promptly re-posted the article without further incident.
Some people haven’t been so lucky.
Just recently three of my Facebook friends were sent to Facebook jail. They were permitted to post on their own pages but couldn’t post in groups or share any content. All they could do was read and like posts, and use Messenger. Facebook sent them the following notice:
“Action Blocked. You’re temporarily restricted from joining and posting to groups until October 3 at 9:59am. If you think you’re seeing this by mistake, please let us know.”
The reason for this banishment was likely the posting of Brian Schrauger’s Chaim Report. In fact Schrauger claims this affected up to eleven people he knows, including himself. I know of others who are temporarily banned from posting on groups, because they frequently shared articles exposing anti-Semitism.
Schrauger is based in Israel and operates The Jerusalem Journal website. The Chaim Report (CR) section is accessed from the top right hand side of the main page. Schrauger updates CR daily. The report focuses on providing news articles related to the Middle East, especially Israel.
Because the report is updated daily, it’s also shared frequently. Due to this frequency and the controversial nature of the topics (see This Example), Schrauger is highly visible and remains a target for activists who want to silence him.
This isn’t the first time he’s been singled out for pointing to politically incorrect truth. CAMERA’s Dexter Van Zile shares Schrauger’s story HERE. There was also the time when Schrauger was warned by the Palestinian Authority that it would be wise for him to leave the region because of his pro-Israel position:
He made his concerns known by live-tweeting the Christ at the Checkpoint Conference that took place in March and in an article about the conference published in the Jewish Press.
As an aside: the upshot to the Facebook fiasco was that Schrauger’s Chaim Report received an uptick in support, shares and exposure as people responded to the ban.
Unfortunately, all a group needs do is report a YouTube Channel, Google Blogger or Facebook account, and the “offending content” will be removed. The ban can be temporary, but sometimes it’s permanent. It is usually affected swiftly. Sometimes appeals can quickly reverse the ban, though not in all cases.
Jan Markell’s YouTube was once targeted by activists and promptly closed. It was only restored after a formal objection. In the case of my three friends above, one was released from “jail” after several appeals. However, the other two’s appeals were ignored and they had to serve out their “sentences.”
Speaking of YouTube, 90% of Megan Fox’s videos were demonetized, presumably because Rush Limbaugh drew attention to one of her articles. Fox is also a contributor the conservative PJ Media website. And she’s not alone.
According to a Forbes article, one reason demonetization occurs is because of advertising money. Google doesn’t want to lose advertisers to controversy. Then there’s a bunch of logistical problems in tracking down the real “criminals,” dealing with appeals, and a shortage of man power – pardon me, human power.
There may be ring of truth to some of the excuses. But there’s also something rotten at work. Facebook has grave issues according to Roger McNamee:
Facebook’s problems could only get worse, as the full scope of how Russia used the social networking site are not yet fully known, said Roger McNamee…With billions of users, Facebook was an amazingly effective platform to spread information, he [McNamee] said. Because of that, Facebook doesn’t mess with democracy and say it’s not accountable.
ABC News notes:
Google has discovered Russian operatives spent tens of thousands of dollars on ads on its YouTube, Gmail and Google Search products in an effort to meddle in the 2016 US presidential election, a person briefed on the company’s probe has said.
I don’t doubt that the Russians use Social Media in efforts to influence. So do a whole bunch of other entities. So what’s new? In fact Marxists have been trying to influence us for years. Especially in schools! One person wrote of a conference attended by Chicago teachers:
Each of the sessions that this person attended started with congratulating Barack Obama for winning his re-election. After listening to language filled with hate and anger aimed at America it became obvious to this person that the agenda of the Chicago socialists and teachers was to change society to be more like that of the former Soviet Union. He noticed that the philosophy of mass murderers such as Lenin were upheld and embraced by those in attendance. Teachers strategize on what and how to teach the school kids in Chicago to train them up with the Marxist philosophy. (Emphases mine)
Do people really think the Russians used social media to effectively influence the 2016 elections? Do they live in an Alternate Universe where it had nothing to do with rejecting Clinton’s policies? Or being gun shy (pardon the pun) after eight years of an America-loathing, Islamic-kowtowing administration?
Maybe the Russian conspiracy theory grew legs and has run wild, captivating the fertile imaginations of grief stricken Clinton supporters. But I must wonder if this conspiracy theory is a ploy to control social media and the internet in order to influence the masses.
Getting dumped into Facebook Jail is a symptom of a larger, growing problem.
What “news gatekeepers” like McNamee etc want is for Social Media to filter out what you read. They want to make sure that you think the “right way.” This includes PC issues such as immigration, LGBT+ diversity reform, abortion, politics, Climate Change, Islam and whatever else they can come up with.
Ultimately this is Spiritual Warfare of the kind Paul wrote about in Ephesians:
Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Eph 6:11-12
Expect Social Media censoring to get worse for those who don’t walk between the accepted markers. Meanwhile, our call is to stand and persevere until the Lord returns.
We know how the story ends. Keep looking up.
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