Facebook temporarily bans author after he calls Trump fans 'nasty fascistic lot'

[inanna]

Source: The Guardian

Friday 30 December 2016 21.22 GMT

A journalist was temporarily banned from Facebook after a post in which he called Trump supporters “a nasty fascistic lot”, in the latest example of the social media platform’s censorship of journalists.

Facebook “reviewed and restored” the post by Kevin Sessums after being contacted by the Guardian and dropped the posting ban.

<snip>

Sessums, who is well known for his celebrity profiles for Vanity Fair and two best-selling memoirs, says that he shared a Facebook post from ABC political analyst Matthew Dowd that read: “In the last few hours I have been called by lovely ‘christian’ Trump fans: a jew, faggot, retard. To set record straight: divorced Catholic.”

Sessums added his own commentary, writing:

But as those who do hold Trump to the standards of any other person have found out on Twitter and other social media outlets these Trump followers are a nasty fascistic lot. Dowd is lucky he didn’t get death threats like Kurt Eichenwald. Or maybe he did and refuses to acknowledge them. If you voted for Trump and continue to support him and you think you are better than these bigoted virulent trolls, you’re not. Your silence enables them just as it did in the racist campaign that Trump and Bannon ran. In fact, hiding behind a civilized veneer in your support of fascism I consider more dangerous. We’re past describing you as collaborators at this point. That lets you off the hook. You’re Russo-American oligarchical theocratic fascists.


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/30/facebook-temporary-ban-kevin-sessums-trump-supporters

[bdamomma]

1. oh here we go

censorship and no dissent allowed when talking about cheeto. disgusting.

remember silence is consenting.

[DK504]

13. So Facebook

can reveal in fake "news" stories, but someone tells the truth and they get banned. Someone needs to create a sane type of system that out does those a-holes at FB.

[Best_man23]

2. Once Again Confirming What I've been Advising Others

GET. OFF. FACEBOOK. NOW!!

Facebook allowed itself to be used as a mal-information tool during the election and now it has the temerity to block journalists?

[a kennedy]

5. I just follow, AND you are right they are a tool........

[AtheistCrusader]

3. That's sad, the Guardian usually researches how things work.

He was 'censored' by an algorithm. When too many people hit 'block' or 'alert' on something, it gets flagged, just like a person getting too many hides here. It's automatic and mathematical, not a human being making a censorship decision.

Those calculated locks are reviewable and reversible by humans. They simply cannot possibly staff to manually censor anything on the scale that Facebook has for user traffic. It's impossible.

[REP]

4. Excellent explanation, thanks

[AtheistCrusader]

6. It may have also been reviewed by a person

but it'd be someone who didn't have time to consider context, and only saw the incendiary keywords in the quote and gone 'yup' and approved the block. More likely it wasn't reviewed at all.

And they can flag his account to alter the thresholds of what would count as a future block, knowing that he responsibly deals in incendiary issues as a journalist.

[TeamPooka]

7. This would be the same FaceBook that helped elect Trump with its allowed foreign propaganda? Okay

[lunasun]

20. That is correct

[sarah FAILIN]

8. I had an entire thread deleted today

It was on a local news site and they were asking about performing for the inaugural. I said the basic I always say which is about how I believe he is a traitor and could never support a traitor in any way. Someone asked me for proof and I said ...just for starters... and posted the link about the server in Trump Tower communicating with Alfa Bank in Russia. Maybe 20 minutes later it was deleted completely along with everything the reps said to me. Maybe it will reappear later, but it's hone from my activity log completely. Another person I know has been having the same thing happen to her posts.

[Moosepoop]

11. It could be the news site that deleted the exchange.

They can delete any comments to their stories, which deletes them from the commenters' activity logs as well.

[sarah FAILIN]

16. It wasn't even bad.

Nobody was threatened at all, which I usually am the one being attacked..

[smirkymonkey]

9. What the hell is going on here?

He's not even the president yet and already this fascist crap is starting. WTF?

[Jacob Boehme]

10. Yeah... the truth really hurts sometimes

That's why those that point it out are usually quickly shoved aside and excoriated for their pronouncements.

[Greybnk48]

12. I've been banned from FB for 30 days.

They have refused to tell me why other than I somehow violated FB rules. I was posting posts against Trump...lots of them, and wham! I'm banned, 21 days to go. And this is not the first time.

[triron]

15. Need some hacker to take FB down

fuck it.

[Iggo]

14. Trump fans are a nasty fascistic lot. (n/t)

[milestogo]

17. On Facebook fake news is ok but the truth is not.

[lancelyons]

18. If Facebook and other sites are to be successful at trying to remove the "Fake" news

If Facebook and other sites are to be successful at trying to remove the "Fake" news, you will see that at times, their decision might be in the wrong. Its part of the territory.


Im sure now after the fact, they regret doing this to Sessums.

[lunasun]

19. Yes the silence and normalization will do more than the crazies for the acceptance of trump

"If you voted for Trump and continue to support him and you think you are better than these bigoted virulent trolls, you’re not. Your silence enables them just as it did in the racist campaign that Trump and Bannon ran. In fact, hiding behind a civilized veneer in your support of fascism I consider more dangerous. "

[kimbutgar]

21. Personally I'm deactivating my Facebook account on January 19th

It going to get real ugly after that on FB with emboldened trolls.