There comes a point when enough is enough.
Being threatened with banning for a period of days by Facebook because one has requested too many friends or, as happens to many of us, because we are posting too fast, is one thing but, being banned for 30 days from an increasingly unsocial social media site says you did something that clearly, you did NOT do is quite another thing altogether.
Blogger, Diane Sori of The Patriot Factor has found herself in just that situation.
Last week, after a 5 hour stint at the dentist, where she could not have posted a thing had she even wanted to, she returned home to discover she had, in fact, been banned for 30 days.
Facebook Jail.
And what was the offense?
Get this.
In a group, on FB, where Diane is an Admin…
ANOTHER Admin posted a link to an article regarding Islamists and beheadings.
FB took exception and, in retaliation…
Facebook banned ALL the Admins for that particular group.
Well, almost all the Admins and, here’s where things get real sketchy.
Some of those Admins got banned for just a couple of days, others for a few MORE days and Diane…Well, Diane Sori was banned for a FULL 30 DAYS for a post she didn’t know about, didn’t post herself and had not a single thing with which to do.
UNBELIEVABLE!!!
So…Someone at CPAC last week had a chance meeting with Katie Harbath.
Katie then left a comment on D
iane’s Patriot Factor article regarding being blocked.
Here is that comment, word for word:
“Diane, my name is Katie and I work in the Facebook DC office. I was at the CPAC blog bash last night and someone passed along your article. I couldn’t find your email address to contact you but would like to try and help look into this. Could you shoot me a note with a link to your profile or the email address you use to log in to katieharbath – at -fb.com? Thanks.”
Diane replied: “I have sent all you requested to you in an email. I appreciate anything you can do.”
So far, so good…Right?
Katie Harbath seems ready and willing to help. Shoot, she sounds downright cheerful about it.
Not so fast.
Hours LATER, Diane Sori receives THIS reply from Katie Harbath:
“Looked into this and our policies are to hold all admins accountable for what is posted to a page so we won’t remove the ban.”
Quite an about face in attitude isn’t it? The seemingly HELPFUL Katie Harbath suddenly became the snarly FB “GO SCREW YOURSELF” sort we have come to know and loathe.
Needless to say, Diane Sori is NOT happy and, I submit, neither should YOU be happy.
Apparently, Facebook has a “POLICY” by which ALL Admins are to be held accountable for what is posted to a page. ALL ADMINS!!!
That’s right…If YOU are a page Admin and somebody, whether you have knowledge or are a part of what that somebody posts…YOU ARE HELD ACCOUNTABLE by Facebook.
Imaging being held responsible for things you had nothing with which to do.
Diane Sori doesn’t have to. She’s PROOF that it is happening.
Now here’s an interesting question…
Why are SOME held MORE accountable than are OTHERS?
Remember, SOME of the Admins from the page in question were given a couple of days in FB jail…SOME were given MORE days and Diane Sori…30 DAYS IN THE FB HOOSEGOW!!!
Oh, it gets better.
NEARLY ALL THOSE OTHER ADMINS, WHO WERE SENT UP THE FB RIVER, REGARDLESS OF THEIR TIME TO SERVE, HAVE HAD THEIR SENTENCES COMMUTED AND HAVE BEEN SET FREE.
But not Diane Sori who, you must remember, did NOT post whatever it was that set FB off NOR did she even KNOW about it.
And if you think THAT’S nuts…
There were 1 or 2 Admins from that page who were NOT SENT TO FB JAIL AT ALL and simply received a warning.
Selective enforcement. That’s what it is plain and simple…Selective enforcement.
But wait, there’s more.
I have SCOURED the FB rules, regulations and policies and can find NOTHING of this sort in them ANYWHERE!
Diane has done so as well and so have others in the wake of this maleficence and NONE of us can find this absurd policy ANYWHERE!!!
HERE are the general rules and policies of Facebook.
Here are the rule and policies pertaining to pages and Admins.
HERE are Facebook’s Community Standards policies.
It seems what we have here, is a policy which allows for selective enforcement and selective penalties that frankly doesn’t exist within their published rules and policies and, while FB prohibits Bullying and Harassment:
“Facebook does not tolerate bullying or harassment. We allow users to speak freely on matters and people of public interest, but take action on all reports of abusive behavior directed at private individuals. Repeatedly targeting other users with unwanted friend requests or messages is a form of harassment,”
It seems that is exactly what they THEMSELVES are doing to their users and Admins of pages however, we have been able to find NO instances of such tactics being employed against LIBERALS at Facebook.
Isn’t that convenient?
Not so convenient where Wall Street is concerned.
As a PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANY, which FB most clearly is, their rules and policies MUST be published and available and, it is simply put, NOT legal to employ SELECTIVE ENFORCEMENT OF ANY RULES OR POLICIES.
FB…We have a problem.
Yesterday, The Examiner attempted to interview Katie Harbath of DC Facebook and asked her permission to include her name in THEIR article.
Katie Harbath, declined.
Too bad.
Once she appeared on CSPAN and, posted her comment to Diane Sori’s article, the name…Katie Harbath…became public.
So too did Katie Harbath’s EMAIL as she included that in her comment.
As Katie typed it: katieharbath – at -fb.com and we all know that when addressing an email, we don’t type “at” we use that funny little thing in the upper case of the number 2. It looks like this: @
Now then…I don’t need to say that FB is holding CONSERVATIVES to some standard they’re NOT holding LIBERALS to.
I don’t need to say that.
I don’t need to say that FB seems to be HARASSING conservatives.
I don’t need to say that.
I don’t need to even say that FB is trying to block or make it damn near impossible for conservatives to socialize on their social media site.
I don’t need to say those things because the evidence is starting to pile up. Conservatives, Admins on conservative pages and we, as conservative bloggers are and have been, under Facebook scrutiny and attack for some time now.
So, Patriot friends…what do you say we ALL send Katie Harbath an email today, tomorrow, the next day and so on. Let’s FLOOD her email.
Don’t be too surprised if she deactivates that email account as, after I posted a FB phone number about a month ago, they disconnected it.
Send it to katieharbath@fb.com and please, no cussing, name calling, eye gouging or blindside punches.
Keep it above the belt but, tell her that we want Diane Sori OUT of FB jail and we want her out right now. Let Katie Harbath know that we don’t appreciate SELECTIVE ENFORCEMENT, WE DON’T CARE FOR HARASSMENT, WE DON’T LIKE POLICIES THAT AREN’T POSTED AND WE DON’T MUCH LIKE FB AND THEIR STOCK OPTIONS.
Send Katie Harbath a link to THIS National Patriot Weekend Edition.
By all means, send her the link to Diane Sori’s article this morning in The Patriot Factor!!!
Now then…should I come up missing from your favorite FB pages and groups, it’s not because of something you said. It’s because FB isn’t much going to like THIS article or, Diane Sori’s article today or, Joe Newby’s article in The Examiner today or so many OTHERS being posted today.
You can always find me at Tea Party Community where I also have a National Patriot page and gosh wilikers…I have never once been threatened, banned or harassed over there.
Go figure.
Enough, Facebook. Enough of the harassment.
Enough
of your non-existent policies.
Enough of selective enforcement of your policies whether posted publicly as they SHOULD be or not.
Enough of the threats.
Enough of the bans.
You’re a SOCIAL MEDIA site for goodness sake so stop acting like a SOCIAL DISEASE!!!
Craig Andresen
The National Patriot
Weekend Edition 3/17/13
Craig are you in FB jail? I haven’t seen you around.
As far as FB goes, I am on there for ONE reason…to get the truth out. For four years I was on a closed conservative site. No liberals allowed. I was continually frustrated that we were only preaching to the choir. SO I made a decision to stay on FB and play by the rules as best I can, to get the truth out to those who won’t get it any other way. I am also a member of many conservative groups, including the Tea Party Community to keep in touch with like minded individuals. We do need to encourage each other. Now, I don’t know how many people I am reaching on FB, but if I only reach one person, it will have been worth it. FB for me is a TOOL. It’s the devil’s tool, but I’m going to use his own tool against him:).
NI’m a Facebook victim too. I’m consistently being blocked for anything Christian or Conservative in content if I send anything else not blocked. Also, get banned if you have too many friend requests in a day. I really don’t understand why having too many friend requests would be an issue. Well, any of it for that matter.
Facebook definitely has a double standard in that it has a habit of harassing conservatives. Having said that, as others have pointed out… FB owns their site and has the right, the power, and authority to operate it as they see fit. So, the real issue is fairness, which FB users have no real control over; so, if people don’t like FB’s unfair harassment of conservatives, they need to check out the alternative like the Tea Party Community (https://www.teapartycommunity.com/). If enough of us leave FB, its actions will no longer be a factor for us; and, it and all its useful idiot liberal members can wallow in the bliss of their liberal ignorance.
The Tea Party Community looks similar to FB and works a little like it; but TPC has zero affiliation with FB. It was founded by conservatives for conservatives to have a place to network without having to put up with FB’s unfair harassment.
As for Diane Sori… I think it’s pretty amusing that she has gone crying to Examiner.com and others to complain about FB doing something to her that she does to anyone who posts views on her personal Facebook page that are in opposition to her own.
She is a huge promoter of Marco Rubio for president fan; and, if someone posts factual information on her FB page explaining that he is not Constitutionally eligible to ever hold that office because he’s not a natural born citizen, she blocks them from posting on her page. Actually, her action is even worse than what she’s accusing FB of since she effectively bans people forever, not just for a few days or weeks.
She also owns and posts ‘articles’ on a site called the Patriot Post; and, any comments there that factually explain in detail why Rubio cannot be president don’t get the “moderator’s approval.”
Maybe I should try to get Examiner.com to write a story about Diane’s unfair harassment of people on her FB page… Just kidding! You see, I KNOW that both she and FB have the right to run their respective domains as they wish.
On the other hand, in the interest of full disclosure, I suggest that you (Craig Andresen) ask Diane why she thinks it’s OK for her to ban people permanently from her FB page and not OK for FB to temporarily ban her from THEIR site…
Jesse,
The difference between a private individual and Facebook should be clear…FB is a publicly traded company…Diane Sori is not.
FB = FRIEND of OBAMA
Time they pay a cost the wont forget.
One more thing. Share your posts Public, not Friend. They can block your swamping them with tons of posts this way. Otherwise, they complain to Facebook about you sharing unwanted posts with them. Put them on your Timeline. They can go in there anytime and find what they want.
First: Send a message first, not a request. Tell them you like their comments or something truthful, and ask if they would consider being friends. Look at their likes, etc., before you message them. Most people send you a friend request, or tell you to send them one. Yuo would be surprised what you discuss in the interim.
When you confirm, do not click the Yes or No. Ignore their do you know this “person outside of Facebook?” question. put the mouse outside of the block, and click. It will go away.
I define friend, not they. Everyone has different criteria for what constitutes a “friend”. I was friends for life with J.D. Salinger, and we only met twice. We both agreed on that.
They do not bother groups.
You get banned when someone complains. Continued complaints extend the time. Conservatives generally do not complain against liberals, they just think they are stupid or misguided. Liberals hate conservatives, and will do anything to put th last nail into the conservative coffin. If offended, Conservatives will reply. If they are offended, Liberals will cry to Facebook. Conservatives try to educate, Liberals try to punish.
This is why I am making the move to TPC. They have their problems with trolls posting unacceptable pictures and have formed a watch dog troll patrol but at least over there you are free to be pro American!
Thank you, Craig….Tip of the Iceberg Award goes to YOU!!!!>>>>> Well articulated article on the FascistBook double standards. Remember 2 years ago , when we all tried to have the deadly ‘intifadah’ FB page shut down?? 25,000 hate-filled members by Feb 15, 2011,>>>>> 75,000 by Feb. 28th. NO HELP or response from FaceBook. By my birthday on March 10th, 2011 this islamonazi group had over 200,000 members/likes. On March 11, 2011, the mass murder of the Fogel family in Israel was perpetrated!!! Then the ‘group’ [planned in Teheran with all the terror groups represented] quietly disappeared…mission accomplished. 5 dead, including a behea
ded infant…whom the 2 PFLP Arab islamist Palestinian killers heard crying, after they left the blood-soaked house….so they returned to the house to behead the infant. FaceBook…you have SO much blood on your filthy hands!!!!
I’m in fb friendship jail for the second time now and have been threatened with a permanent banning. I guess people I’ve been friends with personally for decades aren’t good enough to be allowed on my page. As it becomes increasingly annoying, I let them know in no uncertain terms about their policing and punishments through my posts. Unfortunately it has become the place where we all communicate and they know it. A lawsuit would show them we’re not going to stand for this nonsense any longer!
I found your article very interesting…I did as you suggested..!!…sent an email asking that Diana Sori…be set “Free”..!! Keep up the good work..!!….Freedom of Speech…must be protected at all costs..!!
Every day I get a few “Access Denied” posts slapped over the top of certain Shares so that I can’t click on them or share them. Anyone else get those?
Interesting: the link to the Page Guidelines now DOES NOT EXIXT, at least when I tried it: https://www.facebook.com/page_guidelines.php
I am another example of Facebooks “odd behavior” towards Conservatives. I was also banned for 30 days. Why? Because I only repeated what a liberal had posted, as a question. HE didnt get banned, but I sure did. Why? Because I was a Conservative? But…HE is a liberal, but was not banned or warned at all for saying ‘said offense’.
Lets be fair about who you ban, Facebook. If IM banned, HE should also be banned.
Thanks for listening.
A proud Conservative, Barbara Lemley
I tried to find you over on teapartycommunity.com and your page doesn’t come up on the search for pages. Can you post your link page here please? I want to find you. Thank so much.
Here ya go Beth!!!
https://www.teapartycommunity.com/pages/376/
SPACE NOOK….Look, I have been on the internet since 1998…Im still waiting for the evil monsters to come get me. I have been on Yahoo since 2002….FB dont scare me none.
In fact, it is pure SPITE that I remain, and say what I say and how I want to say it. If you are that damn scared of us, come get us jackwagons cause we outnumber you!!!
LONG MAY SHE WAVE/#
Sounds like FB has a BLOGGER DRONE program similar to Obama’s. They get to be judge, jury and executioner, and the victim has no recourse, no option to plead their case or defend themselves. I Love the idea of a LAWSUIT based upon discrimination. Even the ACLU might back that if the evidence is there.
FB has not been very nice to me either and I am probably more conservative than Joan of Arc. Time to let them know there are other social sites on bing that LIKE their friends.
I have been and once again, am currently on another 30 day term for sending friend requests to people I know, but facebook admins don’t believe I know but a handfull of people. One thing I find extremely aggravating, is the fact that you have no recourse to discuss their “charges”. once they decide you are guilty of whatever they feel like “charging” one with. they just hand down their “sentence”, and that is it. Unlike the REAL system of Rule of Law, here, you are guilty and there is no need to prove guilt or innocence.
Seems as a publicly traded company, the only thing they’ll pay attention to is a class action lawsuit that can show clear discrimination on their part towards political views their monitors don’t agree with(since they are responsible for their workers actions). Negative publicity is never good for stock value.