The Facebook Deception #3 - Blocking Pro-Life Accounts

This week I have posted twice (here and here) about Facebook tactics that appear to target conservative users. First, my pro-life friend had a pro-life meme removed from her wall. Next, they removed another, older pro-life meme and then she was blocked from using her account for a 24 hour period. Being the pro-life advocate I am, I promptly created a meme that called Facebook out for their censorship. I posted it on my personal wall as well as on the Designs by Birgit fan page. I can't say that I was unprepared for what happened next, but that doesn't quell the sense of injustice I feel - my images were removed and I was blocked for 24 hours as well.

Now, here's the thing - I realize that a public, for profit entity can create (and enforce) any rules that they see fit but a sense of fairness begs that it should be done across the board. Instead, pages for pro-life groups, conservatives (like Chicks on the Right), and others are targeted while pages calling Catholics unsavory names and pages with sexually explicit content remain. Even pages engaged in dog fighting are alive and well. Double standard much?

Another thing that comes to mind is that users should be provided a means to see what these rules are. Neither is the case. You can read their rules here (note that none of these points really addresses our particular issue). My friend has been in contact with Facebook in an attempt to garner some solid parameters  for this policy yet any useful information seems to be quite illusive...you see, they also have 'internal policies"  that they use when assessing these situation on a case by case basis (read, we make up the rules on the fly).

Here's How I See it

While I agree that Facebook is a public for profit site, I'd have to disagree with them getting away with this inequitable treatment unchallenged.

• It's news when YouTube takes down my friend's professional Catholic videos. 
• It's news when a child can't wear a pro-life or Christian tee shirt to public school. 
• It's news when a Girl Scout volunteer is censored for her tee shirt. 
• Remember the stories about Google weighting their search results in favor of liberal sites? That was news too. 
• And it should be news when this happens - especially since their public policy (which they referred me to) doesn't state exactly what they object to.

So are you willing to help spread the word? It would help to have people gather support for our freedom to profess that ABORTION is simply WRONG! What's so offensive about that???

Bottom Line?

I will have been locked out of my account for 2 days by the time this is (hopefully) over. What do ya think about that?

Feel free to share this and any of my other memes with your friends and fans! You find them all on the Designs by Birgit Facebook page.

I'm baaaaack!