Warning to Authors: Facebook Banned my Author Page
Facebook took down my author page for a single, five-month-old post. The censorship for hate speech is laughable, outrageous and the opposite of what I stand for.
For any business, especially authors, online visibility is key to survival. Facebook is the first and most common platform people look for you. With 2.8 billion monthly users worldwide, it’s hard to avoid. (See Pew Research Center, June 1, 2021.) Yet beware. Authors face a serious risk of being censored or banned completely.
In March 2021, Facebook flagged a single post on my author page that was five months old for “violating community standards.” Because the AI Bots (translation artificial intelligence, emphasis on artificial) flagged it repeatedly, I became accused of “multiple” violations.
The offending post? I posted a historical reminder on September 1, 2020, that Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, leading to the second World War. The post included a photo from the National Archives in College Park, MD of German soldiers marching into Poland in 1939. Why is this relevant? I frequently speak out against hate and the Holocaust and support organizations that remember the Holocaust. Six million Poles lost their lives during WWII, including three million Polish Jews.
See video my 2018 against anti-Semitism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLU-qcdSau4
Relevant history is a case against hate speech
As the author of a nonfiction book, much of which takes place in Germany and occupied Poland during World War II, I regularly post on historical events. (More info on book.) History is important and exceptionally relevant as a modern lesson against hate speech and anti-Semitism. My book is for sale in the gift shop of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and is in the collections of other leading Holocaust institutions and colleges.
Based on a single, historically accurate post, the mammoth Facebook accused me of hate speech and severely restricted my access to the platform. On my personal page, this ban cuts me off from notifications of anything friends post, and banned me from posting in groups, including yard sales. Friends and readers complain I have ‘disappeared’ because Facebook no longer notifies others of what I post, and vice versa of what friends post. After three and a half years of content, and more than a thousand followers, Facebook unpublished my author page.
All this for a SINGLE post FIVE months old, completely taken out of context. There are hundreds of similar posts in other forums and groups. Why mine? Confused? You bet.
Facebook is extremely vague other than the euphemistic “this violates our community standards” lingo.
I am not sure if it was the historical reference to Poland, or that I included a photo of German soldiers marching into Poland from September 1939. Accompanying text referred to the historical events of the day that sparked World War II. The last phrase? “Not one country came to the aid of Poland.” Why do I mention Poland? Because I know of other posts about Poland that Facebook removed without explanation. Check out Edward Reid — Polish Truth.
Facebook couldn’t make up its mind
It gets better.
Facebook never messaged me about these alerts. Instead, notices of violations were posted in a Support Inbox, four levels down a menu tree, that most people only check if they have filed requests for support. Six identical violations, for the same post, showed up in a Support Inbox within twenty-four hours. I did not see these notices immediately. Why would I even expect a spate of messages on a five-month-old-post I had forgotten about?
I clicked “Disagree” for each violation. (Remember — it’s the same post.)
Three responses came back “We’re sorry we got this wrong. We reviewed the post again and it does follow our Community Standards. Your post is back on Facebook.”
The other three responses came back “We reviewed your post again and it doesn’t follow our Community Standards.” Remember, they all refer to the same post. Confused? You bet.
For the latter three, I filled out three lengthy, on-line appeal forms to the Facebook Oversight Board. The admonition on the Oversight Board read “The board chooses certain Facebook decisions to review, focusing on those that are the most challenging and globally relevant.” All decisions are binding, including a refusal to review. Do not expect any further response or answer to repeated requests.
Facebook claimed “I failed to file a timely appeal.”
I still have copies of each appeal I filed. I received no written response to my appeals. Yet days later when I went to check my author page, it had been “unpublished for going against community standards.” It also stated that “I failed to file a timely appeal.” Done. Final. Confused? You bet.
If it’s free, you are the product
Social Media 101: If you use any website for free, you use it at the behest of that company. Facebook users are the targets of data-mining and paid advertisers. How much data is collected? I checked the “Access Your Information” under settings. Count me stunned for the vast amount of data Facebook owns and uses about me. It’s all theirs, and I have no power to delete any of it. (See Forbes, January 10, 2021.)
Those who decry social media’s selective bans on groups, people, or political posts as a violation of free speech miss a key point. The right to freedom of speech only allows individuals to express themselves without government interference or regulation. Last I checked, Facebook is not a government entity. Nor is Facebook a news outlet compelled to practice a ‘code of ethics’ that includes fairness and objectivity. Facebook is neither fair nor objective.
Facebook will do, what Facebook will do, and censor everything with its own pre-programmed algorithms and changing biases. Forget explanations. Facebook has deleted thousands of posts, pages and restricted users it disagrees with. Recently it deleted nearly five hundred pro-Palestinian posts in the wake of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. (See The Guardian, May 26, 2021.)
Authors beware
Beware of focusing all social media on Facebook. Any website but your own can and will take anyone down at their discretion, without clear explanation. It sounds purely theoretical — until it happens to you. Facebook owns seventy-eight other companies including Instagram, which claims a billion users. Access to Facebook and Instagram is therefore access to billions of people. For most authors Facebook remains an essential and expected point of visibility. I could shift more to Instagram, however Facebook is no longer a “Friend.” But at least Instagram doesn’t collect as much data.
As I hear of more and more pages being taken down, posts deleted, and censored authors, I find little comfort in numbers. I am no David to the Goliath Facebook. I have moved on and now focus on better opportunities elsewhere. Look for me on LinkedIn and others where I have found far more traction and continue to make fabulous connections I never found on Facebook.
Perhaps Facebook has ironically done me a favor.
