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Ron Paul Posts Criticism of Censorship ... Shortly Before Facebook Blocks Him

COTO

COTO

Panthera Uncia
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This scares me to death. This is Ron Paul, the consummate libertarian, being axed for criticism of--of all things--an epidemic of censorship.

Via blogger Jonathan Turley (bold by me):
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Now former Texas congressman Ron Paul, 85, has been blocked from using his Facebook page for unspecified violations of “community standards.” Paul’s last posting was linked to an article on the “shocking” increase of censorship on social media. Facebook then proceeded to block him under the same undefined “community standards” policy.​
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Paul, a libertarian leader and former presidential candidate, has been an outspoken critics of foreign wars and an advocate for civil liberties for decades. He wrote:​
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“With no explanation other than ‘repeatedly going against our community standards,’ @Facebook has blocked me from managing my page. Never have we received notice of violating community standards in the past and nowhere is the offending post identified.”​
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His son is Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) tweeted, “Facebook now considers advocating for liberty to be sedition. Where will it end?”​
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Even before the riot, Democrats were calling for blacklists and retaliation against anyone deemed to be “complicit” with the Trump Administration. We have been discussing the rising threats against Trump supporters, lawyers, and officials in recent weeks from Democratic members are calling for blacklists to the Lincoln Project leading a a national effort to harass and abuse any lawyers representing the Republican party or President Trump. Others are calling for banning those “complicit” from college campuses while still others are demanding a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” to “hold Trump and his enablers accountable for the crimes they have committed.” Daily Beast editor-at-large Rick Wilson has added his own call for “humiliation,” “incarceration” and even ritualistic suicides for Trump supporters in an unhinged, vulgar column.​
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After the riots, the big tech companies moved to ban and block sites and individuals, including Parler which is the primary alternative to Twitter. Also, a top Forbes editor Randall Lane warned any company that they will be investigated if they hire any former Trump officials.​
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Also (ibid.):

The riots are being used as a license to rollback on free speech and retaliate against conservatives. In the meantime, the silence of academics and many in the media is deafening. Many of those who have spoken for years about the dark period of McCarthyism and blacklisting are either supporting this censorship or remaining silent in the face of it.​
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Please don't let this be you.
 
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COTO said:
Even before the riot, Democrats were calling for blacklists and retaliation against anyone deemed to be “complicit” with the Trump Administration. We have been discussing the rising threats against Trump supporters, lawyers, and officials in recent weeks from Democratic members are calling for blacklists to the Lincoln Project leading a a national effort to harass and abuse any lawyers representing the Republican party or President Trump. Others are calling for banning those “complicit” from college campuses while still others are demanding a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” to “hold Trump and his enablers accountable for the crimes they have committed.” Daily Beast editor-at-large Rick Wilson has added his own call for “humiliation,” “incarceration” and even ritualistic suicides for Trump supporters in an unhinged, vulgar column.
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Good stuff!!!!!
 
Rogue Valley said:
Seems Mr. Paul violated the FB TOS either grossly, or repeatedly.
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I trust him when he says, "Never have we received notice of violating community standards in the past and nowhere is the offending post identified.”

Partly because of who he is, partly because he has no reason to lie, and partly because I've seen this same claim made by several other trustworthy men. The timing can't be discounted either.

What does it tell you if Facebook is unwilling to specify which "community standard" is being violated, and which content is violating it?
 
COTO said:
I trust him when he says, "Never have we received notice of violating community standards in the past and nowhere is the offending post identified.”

Partly because of who he is, partly because he has no reason to lie, and partly because I've seen this same claim made by several other trustworthy men. The timing can't be discounted either.

What does it tell you if Facebook is unwilling to specify which "community standard" is being violated, and which content is violating it?
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Why do you take his word for it and not Facebooks?
 
Tough shit.
 
COTO said:
I trust him when he says, "Never have we received notice of violating community standards in the past and nowhere is the offending post identified.”

Partly because of who he is, partly because he has no reason to lie, and partly because I've seen this same claim made by several other trustworthy men. The timing can't be discounted either.

What does it tell you if Facebook is unwilling to specify which "community standard" is being violated, and which content is violating it?
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I personally don't use it. Had a brief posting there - it's very hard to get off of - so the account now is simply not used. I was at least able to get it disabled. I think I may have to get a techy to actually abolish the account, which I've wanted to do for years. I don't respect Facebook or Twitter. This article explores the percentage of people globally that mistrust government, news media and social media. The percentage of those having faith in social media has dropped to a mere 35 percent. Thanks!!

www.reuters.com

Public trust crumbles under COVID-19, fake news: survey

Trust in governments, business chiefs and media is crumbling amid a perceived mis-handling by leaders of the coronavirus pandemic and a widespread feeling among ordinary citizens that they are being misled, a global survey has found.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com
 
Deuce said:
Why do you take his word for it and not Facebooks?
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Because he's been trustworthy for over thirty years, and Facebook--based on their conduct in recent years--I wouldn't trust as far as I can throw Mr. Zuckerberg.

What I'm hoping is that the ban is accidental. I've seen where many pages are temporarily suspended because some malcontent reports them, some trigger-happy censor locks the page, but the admin is forced to admit days or weeks later that no suspension was warranted and they rectify the mistake. Hopefully this is the case here. It's not ideal, but at least it's the result of an error.
 
COTO said:
Because he's been trustworthy for over thirty years, and Facebook--based on their conduct in recent years--I wouldn't trust as far as I can throw Mr. Zuckerberg.

What I'm hoping is that the ban is accidental. I've seen where many pages are temporarily suspended because some malcontent reports them, some trigger-happy censor locks the page, but the admin is forced to admit days or weeks later that no suspension was warranted and they rectify the mistake. Hopefully this is the case here. It's not ideal, but at least it's the result of an error.
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Its not an error.
 
PirateMk1 said:
Its not an error.
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Do you know this for certain based on an inside report, or is it just a suspicion?

The social media giants almost categorically refuse to comment on why any account is banned, and it usually takes several days (or weeks or months even) for them to rectify mistakes.
 
COTO said:
Do you know this for certain based on an inside report, or is it just a suspicion?

The social media giants almost categorically refuse to comment on why any account is banned, and it usually takes several days (or weeks or months even) for them to rectify mistakes.
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Its enemy action plain and simple. Ron Paul had no problems till now. Now he does along with many others.
 
Yet I can still get on his page and read it all. There is something posted less than 1 hour ago
 
PirateMk1 said:
Its enemy action plain and simple. Ron Paul had no problems till now. Now he does along with many others.
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Why can I still access his page and why did he update it less than 1 hour ago?
 
I guess we're going to be hearing a lot of tantrums about censorship in the future because apparently it's patriotic to give deep dive reconnaissance tours to insurrectionists and tweet the location of the House Speaker when armed mobs of them come looking for her.
But apparently social media doesn't agree.
 
COTO said:
Trigger-happy censor is my guess.

Happens a lot, unfortunately.

I'm glad they rectified it so quickly.

I suppose this thread can be about the rest of the McCarthyism laid out in the OP.
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Maybe, we will see if this occurs again with account. I don't think it was an error.
 
COTO said:
I trust him when he says, "Never have we received notice of violating community standards in the past and nowhere is the offending post identified.”

Partly because of who he is, partly because he has no reason to lie, and partly because I've seen this same claim made by several other trustworthy men. The timing can't be discounted either.

What does it tell you if Facebook is unwilling to specify which "community standard" is being violated, and which content is violating it?
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Please note, TOS don't indicate any warnings are required.
 
COTO said:
"Good stuff" in the sense that these abuses need to be reported on, or in the sense that you approve of them?
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I am using FaceBook and Twitter only to ridicule FaceBook as totalitarian twentysomething power hungry jerks, and shame those who are still on it, and posting that I am doing what O can to make FB as popular today as MySpace.
 
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