Facebook jail (warning, harsh language)

[Orrex]

I’m in FB jail for one week after (accurately, IMO) calling someone out as a “dull troll,” in violation of community standards. This same person has previously called me an asshole with impunity.

Days ago I reported a post in which someone told me to “go fuck yourself, dipshit.” That post was determined not to violate community standards.

A while back someone on my town’s unofficial FB page, who knows where I live, made a specific physical thread against me. It was not, ultimately, a credible threat, but it was a threat nonetheless, and FB allowed it to stand.

And we all know that trump was allowed for years to post lies, hate speech, and exhortations of violence, when any normal person would have been banned instantly.

Why does Facebook coddle and enable right-wingers while acting quickly to punish those who call them out?

[FoxNewsSucks]

1. It comes from the ownership.

Same reason corporate media coddles rightwingers and grills Democrats. Owners set policy. White, billionaire, often-racist, owners.

[Karadeniz]

2. Terrible and not fair. I don't FB, so I don't know to whom you can protest so it doesn't keep

Happening.

[lagomorph777]

3. You can get out of Fascistbook jail immediately.

Close your account. You don't need to support Fuckerberg for one more hour.

[Orrex]

7. Well, it's my only point of contact with a number of friends

And also a handy way to get info to and from family members widely scattered. If it were as simple as cutting the cord, I’d do it, but the impact would be fairly disruptive and wide-reaching.

I take your point, though; would that it were feasible.

[lagomorph777]

12. Sorry to hear that your friends don't have e-mail or phones.

[Orrex]

19. Sorry to hear that all your friends live in 1994.

Sorry to hear that your advice is that I give my money to a telecommunications giant of which you approve, rather than to a telecommunications giant of which you do not.

Perhaps you’ll next suggest that I drive 40 miles to spend twice as much on a can of paint for a mom-n-pop place instead of buying it at Walmart.

[lagomorph777]

20. You're the one who pointed out Fascistbook's overt fascist-enabling behavior.

And hey, you could always fax your friends.

[Orrex]

25. Perhaps semaphore

[littlemissmartypants]

29. Which is highly underrated, imo.

[AZLD4Candidate]

30. Carrier pigdeon and smoke signals. Facebook is a necessary evil

and right wingers on there are really thin skinned and can "run to mommy" without being identified.

[Orrex]

58. You've stated it exactly

It's a necessary evil, and until something topples it, all the admonitions about "it's for old people" are superseded by that reality.

[AnrothElf]

51. Tech savvy don't FB... it's so 2001.

I haven't had a FB account since 2010 and my kids never have.

We use Discord for group conversation. Google Voice for DMs and video calls (free over internet).

Zero ads. Ever. None. No ads. NO ADS.

My Miami friends all use WhatsApp, which is turning into a cess pool now, too, and yep all the younger people are sick of it.

Only my mother still has FB, and she just turned 80.

Facebook isn't social media. It's OLD PEOPLE sandbox. This will only get worse. Do what you must and get out, or stop complaining. They have no incentive to change, except to get more fash-friendly

[Orrex]

57. Everyone says that FB is for old people. Fair enough, but...

As of Sept 2020 it had about 2.6 billion active users, more than any other platform. Are all those 2.6 billion old people?


I didn't know that anyone over the age of 20 used Discord.

[AnrothElf]

60. We play D&D and my son, the DM, is on the west coast...

I'm on the east coast. We were using Google Hangouts, but switched when they canceled that service. I'm also a software engineer, so I'm probably more tech savvy than most.

My nieces, younger than my sons, have also never had FB accounts. One has a Twitter account, because she's an gun-control activist, but knows better than to get personal there. They seem to save the personal stuff for TikTok

[kcr]

54. Apparently your friends are all stuck in the 00s

Facebook is old, now.

[Orrex]

56. Old, perhaps, but 1/3 of the world is on it

So we can all grow old together!

[Treefrog]

15. Phones and emails, hell I still write letters.

[DENVERPOPS]

49. Talk about justifiable vengeance

Kick the asshole billionaire right in the chobies

Dems, close your accounts. He only pirates your information to sell it, or allow hackers to grab it......

Walgreens has been nailed twice for selling your personal and prescription info to anyone and everyone who wants to buy it.....

[halfulglas]

4. How is dull troll against community standards?

What's next? A dull asshole? A dull white nationalist? A dull proud boy? It has to be dull because people are always getting called trolls on FB and getting away with it. So it must be a FB sin to call somebody dull.

[Orrex]

13. I've made an effort to eliminate ableist slurs from my discourse

Others, who have made no such effort, use those slurs freely and without repercussion.

I’ve seen openly and baselessly accuse people of pedophilia, and FB doesn’t even blink. But call someone a dull troll? The horror! The horror!

[FailureToCommunicate]

44. "Dull" is ableist? It is actually usually considered non-ableist, according to disability...

linguists.

Maybe Facebook has a problem with the word, but most don't.

[SoonerPride]

5. Delete your account. You will be better off for it.

Facebook is poison.

[Orrex]

8. Can't, for several reasons.

I also can’t get rid of my car or my cellphone, alas.

[Mike Nelson]

6. Well...

... I hear a lot of right-wingers complain about being banned, scolded, and sent to "Facebook Jail" also... many leave for Parler, including two of my relatives. They say their free speech was violated.

[Orrex]

10. Of course their "free speech" complaint is a red herring

I don’t expect free speech there or on any other social media site.

But a little consistency would be refreshing.

[IbogaProject]

9. Zuck is a fascist

Zuck is a fascist best I can tell from his associations and actions.

[3auld6phart]

11. Weird for sure.

You are right. I and my wife have seen some weird shite on FB.
I got 30 days in the penalty box for saying SecEd deVos a skank.Only
go there to see horse and other worthy pics.I’ll no longer post anything
other than liking something I see.

[nightthinker]

14. I was in FB jail for a day because I...

... copied and pasted a tornado warning for Lewis County, TN where my friend lives because a tornado was about to strike her immediate area. Apparently, FB said I was spamming. My friend contacted FB and told them I wasn't and they lifted the ban.

FB has no real clue what they are doing.

[Treefrog]

17. I got to ask why you didn't call her if you thought a tornado was about to strike?

How would you think your friend would check FB before a TORNADO? Do you know how fast those fuckers are?

[nightthinker]

21. She asked for info on FB and she said she had internet but...

...no phone signal where she lives.

[Rebl2]

22. True FB

doesn’t know what they are doing and that is why I don’t have it.

[TreasonousBastard]

16. I have o idea why, but for years wingnuts have been allowed to spiel in my presence, but...

if I said anything, I was told to shut up. I assumed that it was to prevent fights from starting, but it was annoying at times.

This wasn't everywhere, of course, and often at family functions, but annoying enough. I suspect it's a societal flaw assuming that we are the "reasonable" ones and can actually shut up when asked.

Anyway, since getting off FB is an understandable problem for you, can't you just stay away from the assholes? It's a huge place.

[Orrex]

26. That's probably the best choice

I let myself get drawn in because I hate to see ignorant assholes spewing their bullshit unopposed, but in the end it seems that I’m more likely to be censured for opposing it than they are for spewing it.

I should take your advice.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

39. You might try blocking the people that you find objectionable.

I've blocked several, and my FB life improved enormously!

[bluestarone]

50. This is the best simplest solution

[DBoon]

52. anytime I get any sort of RW FB post

I block that account immediately.

Cleans things up very quickly

[VarryOn]

53. Totally correct...

Keep your "friend" list small and limited to those you know very well. Same goes for Twitter.

And don't get sucked into fighting with trolls.

My church uses FB for most announcements. If not for that, I'd delete my account.

[Orrex]

38. Had another thought about ath

if I said anything, I was told to shut up. I assumed that it was to prevent fights from starting, but it was annoying at times.

In my experience over the past few decades, the right-wing attitude is generally treated as the "default," and anyone who opposes that attitude, even if it's disgusting and hateful, is deemed to be the troublemaker.

It's certainly true at family functions or at local events, and it translates directly to social media platforms as well.

I have friends elsewhere in the US who live in comparative oases of progressive thought, and they simply can't comprehend what it's like to live a stronghold of Trump's cult.

[Downtown Hound]

18. Welcome to the club

I've seen right-wingers get away with making threats, racism, bigotry, name-calling, personal attacks, transphobia, misogyny, and a whole host of other garbage. And then I've seen left-wingers get thrown in Facebook jail for calling someone who fell into previous aforementioned categories "white trash."

Facebook is garbage. If I didn't need it to remain in contact with certain people I would have ditched it long ago. The only people who still think it doesn't have a right-wing bias are the same morons who think Fox News is fair and balanced.

[Silent3]

23. Could it just be that the squeaky wheel gets the grease?

Do you yourself report others perhaps less frequently than they report you?

[Orrex]

27. That's possible

I’m in a political group in which someone anecdotally observed such a pattern and suggested that right-wingers might launch coordinated “Reports” to punish their critics.

Of course FB would never confirm such a thing, but it’s interesting to consider.

Years ago, of course, DU was rumored to harbor “Alert stalkers” who purportedly hunted the posts of certain other members. Skinner flatly denied that this was the case, but it seems unlikely that the Zuck would be so helpful.

[mountain grammy]

24. I had a FB post removed for violating community standards

it was a link to an article about Roger Ebert's favorite movies.. rogerebert.com

Maybe a copyright thing but community standards??

[FakeNoose]

28. Here's how the Facebook people think:

Anytime a "liberal" person expresses a political opinion of any kind, that happens to be contrary to "right-wing" thinking, that person is using hate speech.

Anytime a "conservative" person expresses an opinion however vile or disgusting - even to the point of using expletives - that person is fine as long as s/he is owning the libs.

I'm pretty much done with Facebook even though my family and many of my best friends are on there. I'm so sick of the way that thing is being run.

[littlemissmartypants]

31. I was sent there for a year. Close to the end of my incarceration

I tried to log on and found out that I had been in FB jail (aka F*cker Berg jail) for months. I successfully lived without it.

Keep in mind that you are upset about not being able to ultimately let them use your personal information to make money you will never see.

No one is asking you to get rid of your phone or car.

Things in life are seldom truly fair. For example, Mark could care less about the people on his site. Where one is blocked, twenty more are in line playing Candy Crush.

You're going to be fine. I am glad you are venting. It's much better for you than stuffing your feelings. Don't listen to the naysayers on DU. They live to pounce and agitate. They think it's their job.

Stay encouraged.

❤ pants

[Orrex]

37. How the heck did you get bumped for a whole year?

I'm in awe of your FB recidivism!

[littlemissmartypants]

45. Friending people that I didn't know was the officially stated violation.

I was trying to get a petition for Mes Aynak to go worldwide viral, which it did.

Search Mes Aynak and DU. Several people here helped with the effort. I used every SoMe platform I could.

I just love the place so much. Thankfully, it's still standing and being excavated, though one of the archeologists was killed by the Taliban.

[Warpy]

32. If you object to lies, hate speech, and arbitrary moderation

you might use the week to evaluate whether it's time to ditch Facebook altogether.

I mean really, it's heavily infested with wingnuts, provided a ready conduit for Russian propaganda, and sold its members personal data to some of the vilest political organizations on the planet, who then used the information to suppress the minority vote. Their business plan sucked from the very beginning and the yeas have turned it into a total monstrosity.

You might find life a lot more pleasant without that much bullshit.

[Orrex]

36. That's a nice thought, true

But for a host of reasons impractical.

Treasonousbastard upthread gave me solid advice, which is to ignore the assholes and use FB only for what I need it to do.

[madamesilverspurs]

33. Well, it seems Facebook is down

in many areas. Maybe we're all in facebook jail?


.

[milestogo]

34. WHY ARE YOU STILL USING FACEBOOK?

Its rightwing bullshit.

[Fullduplexxx]

35. I called someone a traitor and was thrown in it as well

[Orrex]

41. I called someone a racist for posting an unambiguously racist slur

I was jailed for it, and thankfully the other poster was apparently jailed as well.

So the whistleblower was jailed, as it were, along with the offender.

[mac56]

40. A while back I was in FB jail for a week.

It turned out someone was stalking me and reporting everything I posted.

Now I appeal their decision every time it happens. It's worked out well for me.

[Politicub]

42. Facebook has favored right-wing members for a while now. They banned

some toxic groups and people (which was mainly for show before Zuckerberg testified before Congress). But now they turn a blind eye toward people who spew right-wing garbage and insults.

It’s not uncommon for normal posters to end up in FB jail for the most minor of reasons. Right wingers get away with a lot more.

Here’s the thing: Most complaints and bans are handled by algorithm. Very few are reviewed by a person, which says to me that the algorithm is tuned to give more leeway to the right.

I’m on there very little these days... When I do use FB, I hit like on the posts by my mom (she loves dessert recipes and I like giving her likes), but that’s about it.

[LymphocyteLover]

43. That's insane. FB has gotten really bad and random with their censoring.

I know a few people this nonsense has happened to. Somehow I've avoided it so far.

I suspect FB is more responsive to rightwing complaints because they don't want to seem biased, heaven forbid.

[AnrothElf]

46. Are you 50+?

Most youngsters left or never joined long ago. The older demographic that remains on that shitty network tend, like older people in general, to be more conservative.

FB is only appealing to their user base.

[Orrex]

55. Not yet fifty, but you make a good point (nt)

[Nululu]

47. Owner is a fascist w/ a god complex

[Ziggysmom]

48. Anyone ever try the sites MeWe or Ello? My kid likes them, said they don't sell your info or

Push annoying ads at you.

[BobTheSubgenius]

59. FB's monitoring/enforcement is a joke.

I was having a light-hearted banter with a LONG-time friend, in which I said "What can you expect from us? Men are pigs."

Facebook jail.