Posted on 10/07/2013 4:49:10 PM PDT by daniel1212
Help Me Stop Facebook-Approved Religious Harassment
Facebook is turning a blind eye to religious harassment on its social network.
Christian ministry pages on Facebook are being targeted for profane harassment, and Facebook is turning a blind eye. Would you help me send them a message?
Last year, I documented Facebook’s glaring double standard when it came to allowing all kinds of obscene, Jesus-mocking Facebook pages (along with pages encouraging anti-Israel violence) while shutting down Christian pages that differed respectfully with homosexual activism (in this case, the page devoted to discussion of my book A Queer Thing Happened to America).
Thankfully, after bringing national attention to this issue and working with an internal contact at Facebook, the page was reactivated, with apologies from Facebook. (For the relevant stories, see here and here.) But the extremely offensive sites, replete with profane, Christ-defacing graphics and horrific anti-Jewish images, were not shut down, despite the clear standards articulated in Facebook’s community guidelines.
Still, if Facebook wants to allow groups of all kinds to use their services, that’s their prerogative, as long as Facebook doesn’t violate its own standards and allow anyone to harass or intimidate others.
Unfortunately, Facebook is now permitting a new version of cyberattacks on Christian pages, and despite working with my internal contact at Facebook and despite others complaining about this very issue, Facebook told me nothing would be done to resolve the problem.
To give the relevant details, a few weeks ago, my staff noticed there were “likes” appearing in response to posts on my AskDrBrown Facebook page, and these “likes” were from new Facebook pages, including “Jesus F**king Christ. Slut Mary’s Bast*rd.”
Yes, this is actually the name of a Facebook Fan page—spelled out in full—and the page is as profane as the name. Yet Facebook says the page does not violate community guidelines for hate speech against a religious group!
Facebook also had no problem with pages like “Christo Fascist Bigots Run This Business” and “Virgin? Mary Should Have Aborted,” the latter page featuring a gay and lesbian, sadomasochist version of the Last Supper.
What this means is that anyone participating on my AskDrBrown Facebook page—which reaches 40,000+ per week—would constantly be confronted with vulgar, anti-Jesus profanity, since there’s no way to remove these “likes” once they’re posted. (In contrast, an offensive comment can be removed and an offending participant can be blocked.)
So, when someone would post a question on my Facebook timeline, asking me about the meaning of a verse in the Bible or asking if I’d seen a particular news item about Israel or sharing a beautiful, spiritual insight, soon enough you would see “Jesus F**king Christ. Slut Mary’s Bast*rd" and "Christo Fascist Bigots Run This Business" pop up as "liking" this.
How can this be legal? How can Facebook permit people to post Christ-mocking profanity on someone else’s page?
Again, if Facebook feels that these offensive pages do not contain hate speech against a religious group and they want to have an “anything goes” environment, that’s their business, as long as they’re consistent (which would obviously mean rewriting their community guidelines).
But it is absolutely unacceptable for Facebook to say there’s no way to block these groups from “liking” posts on other pages, thereby empowering these hate groups to plaster their vulgar profanity for all to see.
And can you imagine what would happen if, God forbid, Westboro Baptist Church was allowed to start a “God Hates Fags” Facebook page, after which they started “liking” different LGBT pages on Facebook, posting “God Hates Fags” everywhere with no way to remove it?
On Oct. 14, 2010, CNN reported, “Today, Facebook announced that they're making new efforts to respond quickly when hateful speech violates the terms of service and needs to be removed. And this isn't just routine TOS [Terms of Service] policing, either.
“Facebook Public Policy Communications Manager Andrew Noyes wrote in an email today that Facebook ‘intends to work closely with GLAAD [the so-called Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation] and other LGBT organizations on future initiatives.’”
In light of this pro-gay activist initiative, do you really think Facebook would permit a “God Hates Fags” page to exist, let alone allow it to post “likes” on other Facebook pages, plastering that offensive name everywhere? And do you really think they would tell the offended LGBT groups, “Sorry, but there’s nothing we can do?” Yet that is what they have told me, along with other Christian groups who have complained.
I, for one, am very glad that a “God Hates Fags” page would be banned on Facebook, and I don’t think it’s fair for anyone to be able to post offensive comments or use profanity on other people’s pages—and that includes posting “likes” containing offensive and profane names.
Facebook simply needs to come up with a mechanism to make this happen, and it’s up to us to call them to account.
So, let’s do what we can by spreading this information far and wide, by contacting Facebook directly, and by putting whatever rightful pressure on them we can, urging them to do the right thing. And for those who are attorneys or who have social media connections, use the resources at your disposal to call Facebook to account.
Otherwise what is now a terribly offensive trickle might quickly become such a polluting flood that it will drive us all away.
However, what conservative Christian apologist and talk show host Michael Brown (see testimony here ) is experiencing is another manifestation of homosexual and likely atheistic vileness and the double standard of the media, of which facebook is a large part. I am just doing my part to publicize it.
Lots of chat on FR today about the censorship and liberalness of FB.
JUST DON’T FACEBOOK. Walk away from it.
Its. Just. That. Simple.
Better to confront in my opinion.
I don’t do Facebook either, but it’s another vehicle for these Christians ministries to proclaim the gospel of life in Jesus Christ to this world of darkness. As is seen, it’s pretty dark.
Jesus is bigger than FB.
Beat me to it. Yes. Conservatives must not concede anything to liberals and run away and hide.
A warranted option. But if you can combat the hypocrisy and vileness, so be it.
Indeed.
Exactly!
Can’t really confront if FB just deletes your post.
Maybe they can sue Facebook, go to Congress and push FB to make changes or buy enough Facebook stock to have control of the company.
If he didn’t go on FB he wouldn’t be harrassed by FB. I would say to stop feeding the beast but the beast is the government.
A double standard meets a double edged sword.
FaceBook seems caught in the middle, they are a platform pure and simple. For FB to police ever post is unrealistic and as a result they seem to address concerns from the “squeaky wheels”.
FB, seems to take the position that if someone, or a group of users find a particular page offensive they will remove it first, and discuss it later. They error on the side of the offended, but more often than not, reinstate the accounts after further consideration. This gives the squeaky wheels their little victory and they later live up to their own internal guidelines.
I would be very interested in “how” a user notifies FB that they find a certain page/post offensive. It is one thing to simply click a button and quite another to be provided with the ability to explain “why” you find something is offensive and how it violates FB’s rules.
It is very possible and likely that they simply have an automated system that counts the “report offensive content” numbers, and automatically removes them. I’d like to know what that number is.
I don’t think this is a FB issue. I think it is an issue that is a reflection of the politically correctness that has been mindlessly ingrained in our culture.
We have a small group of activists that are attempting to control the media and the medium.
Why is it that Fox News, dominates all the ratings and is left to run ads that are basically mini infomercials ?
While their competition continues to run the high dollar national ads of the large multi-nationals.
I promise you that if Delta Airlines ran an ad on Fox they would be hammered with complaints. Not Fox News, but Delta Airlines.
When Rush Limbaugh praises Apple products on air because he actually likes their products, and they approached Apple about advertising they were flatly rejected.
It is completely irrational.
It is ideological.
The divide is being created by those that profess inclusion.
They will include you, as long as you agree with them.
Christians are forgiving, and that forgiveness is being taken advantage of and repainted as judgmental.
Among the politically correct relativists, being Judgmental is the greatest sin.
And if the Lord Jesus did not go to the Jews He would not have been so persecuted. But God sent us to confront the world.
The need to be exposed.
I understand that, but it is an issue that FB is clearly siding with it.
It’s not just FB, it is virtually every aspect of our society.
It’s business, it’s education, it’s the media, it’s this “default” position that none thinking people have more right to expression than those that have thoughtfully considered the issue.
It’s a cultural issue, IMHO.
Bad things happen to good people-—on Facebook. It’s no different than strutting into te ghetto in Chicago or Detroit. Just stay away.
Don’t do Fagbook.
If enough people swear off of this pathetic network, it will collapse.
It won’t happen.
Personally... the best defense is a good offense. Facebook is the greatest thing since parchment paper to announce the gospel worldwide. They haven’t squelched “Jesus Saves” messages in various forms, yet. USE it, and the more unbelievers on the forum, the BETTER... you don’t know an opportunity when it walks right up to you on a silver platter.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.