Facebook Deletes Disabled Veteran’s Page Without Warning — After Taking $300,000 for Ads
Facebook blacklisted the conservative news page run by disabled Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage with no warning or explanation — after he reportedly spent more than $300,000 on Facebook advertising.
By LUCAS NOLAN / 16 Oct 2018
Breitbart
Photo credit: Brian Kolfage
Facebook blacklisted the conservative news page run by disabled Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage with no warning or explanation — after he reportedly spent more than $300,000 on Facebook advertising.
On his new website which aims to put an end to social media censorship, Air Force veteran and triple-amputee Brian Kolfage explains who he is and the challenges he’s facing stating: “I’m a veteran of The United States Air Force. I was severely wounded in Combat, on 9/11/2004 while serving in Iraq I lost both my legs entirely and my right hand. I’m the most severely wounded US Airman to survive.”
Kolfage continued: “I’m not a ‘conservative.’ I’m not a ‘liberal.’ I’m an American, with deep beliefs in what our country stands for. I proved this by vowing to protect and fighting for America greatest tenant: Free Speech. Many Americans have fought for these political freedoms … freedom of speech … and every American has enjoyed those freedoms… UNTIL TODAY. October 11th Facebook shut down thousands of Facebook accounts for their political opinions stating that they don’t have a ‘legitimate political argument’. STOP SOCIAL MEDIA CENSORSHIP NOW!”
Kolfage was the administrator of a number of Facebook pages, notably the pages Right Wing News and Military Grade Coffee, both of which were deleted recently as Facebook attempts to crack down on what it considers “misinformation” on the platform. Right Wing News had more than 3 million followers at the time of its blacklisting by Facebook.
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Why some experts say it's time for Twitter and Facebook to ban anti-vaccination posts
As measles cases continue to rise in Canada and the U.S., experts are calling on social media platforms to ban anti-vaccination posts, saying the risks to public health created by misinformation outweigh the right to free speech.
Nicole Ireland · CBC News · Posted: May 22, 2019
Photo credit: AP Photo/Tony Avelar
Social media giants say they direct users to sound information, but won't remove misinformation.
As measles cases continue to rise in Canada and the U.S., experts are calling on social media platforms to ban anti-vaccination posts, saying the risks to public health created by misinformation outweigh the right to free speech.
Industry giants like Facebook and Twitter recently announced measures to try to steer users toward scientifically sound information about vaccines, but both told CBC News they won't go so far as to block and remove anti-vaccination material.
"I think this is one of the biggest questions that we're facing right now in this information age: Where is the line between free speech and protecting the public?" said Jonathan Jarry, a biological scientist with McGill University's Office for Science and Society, a centre dedicated to helping the public separate fact from fiction on a variety of science and health topics.
"People are being misled by highly damaging misinformation and I think that in that case, maybe the public good outweighs the right for people to scream 'Fire!' in a theatre where there is no fire."
'No genuine controversy '
"Vaccine hesitancy" is one of the top 10 threats to global health, according to the World Health Organization. Misinformation claiming that vaccines are unsafe or cause "vaccine injuries" such as autism (a theory put forward in a research paper more than 20 years ago that has since been debunked and retracted) frightens some parents and fuels that hesitancy to have their children immunized.
On Tuesday, the head of Gavi, a global alliance committed to increasing immunization, called on social media companies to take down posts that contain false information about vaccines, saying the spread of such content "kills people."
"We have to think about it as a disease," Gavi CEO Dr. Seth Berkley said in Geneva. "This spreads at the speed of light, literally."
Both the Public Health Agency of Canada and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have emphasized the importance of combating that misinformation as a way to stop the current rise of measles, a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable disease that was declared eliminated in Canada in 1998 and in the U.S. in 2000.
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Facebook Wades Deeper into Censorship Debate as it Bans 'Dangerous' Accounts
Facebook on Thursday banned from its flagship social network and its subsidiary Instagram a series of incendiary political figures, including Infowars Chief Alex Jones and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan — a move some critics scoffed at as belated but that free speech advocates warned could raise thorny content moderation issues.
By CRISTIANO LIMA
05/02/2019 02:51 PM EDT, Politico
Photo credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Facebook had removed pages belonging to Alex Jones in August 2018, but did not ban the Infowars leader until Thursday.
Facebook on Thursday banned from its flagship social network and its subsidiary Instagram a series of incendiary political figures, including Infowars Chief Alex Jones and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan — a move some critics scoffed at as belated but that free speech advocates warned could raise thorny content moderation issues.
The social media giant has drawn broad criticism from across the political spectrum over its attempts to curb harmful content. Critics on the left have said Facebook and other tech platforms are failing to thwart the spread of hate speech; those on the right argue tech's approach to content-policing stifles free speech and disproportionately targets conservatives. Neither camp appeared quelled by Thursday's move, which the company said was to crack down on violations of its policies against "dangerous individuals" and organizations.
"Facebook just announced they are finally banning Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos and other racist conspiracy theorists," tweeted Christopher Wylie, the whistleblower who triggered the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. "Let’s not forget that a mere 10 months ago, they were defending these same people’s right to publish their hateful disinformation and harass Sandy Hook families."
On the other hand, Dan Gainor of the Media Research Center, a conservative tech and media watchdog, praised the removal of Farrakhan but bemoaned the company’s other actions. “It's unfortunate that online speech doesn't have enough room for controversial views,” he said in an email.
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Don't Let Zuckerberg Kill Free Speech
This week, representatives from Facebook, Google and Twitter will join with European leaders and the prime minister of New Zealand to launch a chilling proposal to curb free speech across the internet. Americans should be alarmed. Internet freedom is being extinguished fast in Europe. How long will it survive in the U.S.?
By Betsy McCaughey / COPYRIGHT 2019 CREATORS.COM
May 15, 2019, Real Clear Politics
Photo credit: AP Photo/Tony Avelar
This week, representatives from Facebook, Google and Twitter will join with European leaders and the prime minister of New Zealand to launch a chilling proposal to curb free speech across the internet. Americans should be alarmed. Internet freedom is being extinguished fast in Europe. How long will it survive in the U.S.?
Social media titans such as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg have more influence over our freedom than Supreme Court justices or U.S. presidents. But these internet executives are selling out core American principles for the almighty dollar. They'll do whatever a host country demands. In China, Russia and even capitalist Singapore, internet freedom is already dead, without a murmur of protest by Zuckerberg and others.
Standing alongside French president Emmanuel Macron on Friday, Zuckerberg said, "The question of what speech should be acceptable and what is harmful needs to be defined by regulation, by thoughtful governments." You read that correctly -- Zuckerberg's endorsement of censorship, a total repudiation of America's commitment to freedom of expression, the freedom that tops our Bill of Rights.
Of course, Zuckerberg was talking to Europeans. Until these foreign governments finalize their censorship regulations, Facebook is relying on leftist groups such as Avaaz to finger accounts for being "divisive." In Spain, France and Italy, Facebook is already removing accounts expressing populist views on NATO, immigration, Muslims and other controversies.
The prime minister of New Zealand is calling for an internet ban on depictions of mass shootings, such as her country's Christchurch massacre, that could incite copycat violence. All agree that's reasonable. But don't be fooled. Europe's censorship goes further, squelching competing ideas and limiting the public's range of political choices. Facebook is glad to oblige.
Arm yourself as a citizen of Free America with the best defense you have: your Constitution. Join Free America Law Center today and enjoy voting rights on future cases, a Bill of Rights book series by Barnes Law School, a weekly podcast featuring constitutional expert Robert Barnes and exclusive invitations to future events for the Citizens of ’76 and our nation’s leading freedom fighters.
