Facebook’s Double Standard: The Tyrants of Facebook, Part 3

Big tech companies hate real information.
—Will Witt—

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Key point: Evidence abounds that Facebook applies a microscope to the posts of conservatives and puts on a blindfold when scammers wish to use its platform.

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Links to all the articles in this series are available here.

My readers may know that during this Thanksgiving season, I have been engaged in a project to get the word out about about the Pilgrims’ failed 2-year experiment in socialism, a harrowing journey they were on from 1621 until they abandoned socialism in 1623.

Plymouth Governor William Bradford included a report about his community’s socialist experiences in his history of Plymouth titled Of Plymouth Plantation. In 2019 I paraphrased the relevant passages in that history and released it as a Word Foundations article titled “Ditching Socialism in the New World: A Lesson for 21^st-Century Americans.” This chapter in American history isn’t just worth reading about, but studying as well — and studying from a biblical perspective.

In late September and early October, I printed 1,000 copies of the article in booklet form and made them available for purchase. I so much appreciate Jon Harris’s featuring the booklet on his Conversations That Matter podcast on Thanksgiving Eve, November 24. After Jon posted the podcast on Facebook, I commented, saying (here I’ve adapted my comment slightly and added hyperlinks for readers’ convenience),

Thanks, Jon, for spreading the word about the Bradford paraphrase! It’s available online here. At the top of the article are links so people can purchase the booklet, download a PDF file for free, download an audio edition for free, access a Bible study addressing issues in the article, and access a discussion guide for families to use to briefly talk about what the Pilgrims faced and why they were wise to ditch socialism and embrace property rights. One thing I’m grateful for this Thanksgiving is Conversations That Matter. Every episode is informative, insightful, and grounded in biblical truth. Thank you for your leadership! Blessings and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your wife!

While many have heard the history of socialism among the Pilgrims (and perhaps also a similar series of events that occurred among the settlers in Jamestown), many others have not, and still many more haven’t heard the details I’ve been able to include in the paraphrase. I hope you’ve benefitted from these materials, but if you haven’t yet, you still can. The story is powerful every day of the year — not just on Thanksgiving.

No Thanks to Facebook

That said, I want to share in this post another chapter in the story of my efforts to use Facebook [FB] to spread the word about the availability of these materials. Note that in each case my efforts would have involved my paying FB to increase the exposure it would have given my posts, and I was perfectly willing to pay.

• • On October 17, I submitted a request to FB for it to boost this post. My request was rejected. I reported the experience in this article, which I titled “Censorship!”
  • On November 6, I requested that FB boost a post featuring this 100-word paragraph against socialism. FB actually had invited me to ask them to boost it, but then when I did, my request was turned down. Here is the image showcasing the paragraph.

• • On November 10, I asked FB to increase exposure of a post notifying readers that an audio version of “Ditching Socialism” was available. Initially FB boosted the post, but only a few days (perhaps two) into what was to have been a 10-day run, the social media giant pulled it and sent me a notice that my request was rejected.

• • Finally, on November 21, just four days before Thanksgiving, I released a Word Foundations article that included a discussion guide families could use to talk about what happened to the Pilgrims under socialism and how they abandoned it for private property rights and free enterprise. The article included clips from the audio edition of “Ditching Socialism.” It was, and is, a very family-friendly exercise. In the early morning hours of November 22, wanting to let the largest number of people know they could use discussion guide if they desired, I requested that Facebook boost that post too. You guessed it! That inquiry also was dealt a negative response, just as all but one of the others had been.

All…but one? Yes, Facebook fulfilled one request. On October 29, I asked it to boost a post featuring this article: “How Stories Can Alter a Nation’s Destiny.” I guess my information about the availability of “Ditching Socialism” was so throughly buried in the article that FB consented and took my money.

Here is the notification that the request I made on November 22 had been rejected.

Look carefully at what FB told me:

Our policy creates a higher standard of authenticity and transparency to run ads about social issues, elections or politics on Facebook and Instagram. Your ad may contain text or images that fall within the scope of this policy.

If your ad is not directly about these topics, you can edit your ad to remove the elements that were flagged by the ad review process.

Does your ad contain any of these topics?

Elections, Voting, and Legislation

Political Figures, Parties and Committees

Remember that FB says, “Our policy creates a higher standard of authenticity and transparency…” (emphasis added). We’ll come back to it in just a bit.

Well, my “ad” did not contain any of “these topics.” Nor was I told what elements were “flagged by the ad review process.” My post was about a historical account. I’ll readily admit the events highlighted in it have profound implications for our day, and the title of my article indicated as much. Still, FB guidelines are extremely broad and extremely vague. It’s apparent to me they are broad and vague intentionally, for a specific reason. Can anyone blame conservatives for concluding that FB sets up its guidelines so it can reject anything it doesn’t like and claim what it rejected violated its policies?

Are you surprised that a conservative group found that “Twitter and Facebook employees donate over 90% to Democrats“? Anyone who is hasn’t been paying very close attention.

Put on Suspension

A few days after FB rejected my request to boost the post containing the discussion guide, FB tyrants put my account on restriction. Here is the notice, dated November 27.

My posts are being “moved lower in News Feed for at least 90 days.” News to me! I thought I was in the lowest category already! Why did FB decide to do this? Because, in their judgment, I repeatedly had posted false information.

On this page, I share some specific details about the posts that FB says carried this “false information.” For the most part, the incidents the social media giant cites align with the point made in this meme. The idea of the meme wasn’t original with me, so I can’t take credit for it. I do agree with it, however. Here is another meme that also hits the bull’s eye.

Bias Against Kyle Rittenhouse

As I have indicated, an item I posted that FB claims spread “false information” has to do with the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. FB really had to strain to find misinformation in that one. Actually, it has been clear for months that FB itself has been willing and ready to share false information about Rittenhouse. Its hypocrisy is palpable. Check out these articles.

• • • Rittenhouse Is NOT GUILTY, But Big Tech IS
    • Critic blasts ‘dangerous’ Facebook power after Kyle Rittenhouse verdict
    • Facebook classified Rittenhouse as murderer and tagged him for censorship months before the trial
    • Facebook declared Kyle Rittenhouse guilty, silencing his defense in the court of public opinion

Facebook’s Double Standard

In Matthew 23:24, Jesus condemned the Pharisees for being “[b]lind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.” I am reminded of this statement when I see FB’s censorship of conservatives alongside its apparent willingness to let scammers use its platform to accomplish nefarious ends at the expense of its ordinary users. The following two articles are short. Please take a few minutes to read both, then return for my (brief) concluding remarks.

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Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!…Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
—Jesus, in Matthew 23:23-24—

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• • Scam alert: Beware fake ads on Facebook
  • Latest Scam: “Discounted” Postage Stamps!

I’m actually posting a screenshot of the second article here:

Note these statements from the articles. The first three items are from the first feature, and the last two are from the second.

• • As always, if an offer sounds to good to be true, it probably is. And if it’s on Facebook you can place those odds at pretty close to 100%.
  • If you happen to click or tap on a fake ad you’ll probably be taken to a fraudulent website designed to steal your personal information and credit/debit card info. And it’ll probably download malware on your device as well.
  • Bottom line: Always evaluate any ad you see on Facebook with a healthy dose of skepticism, especially the ones that are displayed in your Newsfeed.
  • Morrison, IL, Postmistress Missy Matz verified this is a scam.
  • The legitimate USPS (United States Postal Service) has four letters in its abbreviation, with no periods.  It does not have stamp sales.  Hopefully, no one will write the dollar amount as $39.9 to order a bag of online, bogus postage stamps.

Keeping this information in mind, please visit this page to view 13 “images gathered from Facebook and from webpages to which ads appearing on Facebook linked on and around Thanksgiving, 2021.” I took screenshots of the images myself.

Furthermore, I actually went to three local Post Offices and asked an employee in each one about the images appearing on Facebook. I wanted to get their take on the legitimacy of these offers. All three confirmed that the United States Postal Service never puts postage stamps on sale. All three viewed the offers on Facebook with extreme skepticism.

Here I have to ask, What of the “higher standard of authenticity and transparency” Facebook upholds when users wish “to run ads about social issues, elections or politics on Facebook and Instagram”? I realize ads for stamps aren’t about “social issues, elections or politics,” but it seems quite clear FB is letting its guard down and allowing scammers onto its platform. “Higher standards” ought to be applied here, but instead we see a double standard. Higher standards are being applied in places where they’re either not needed or less urgently needed.

Facebook’s Obsession with Regulating Conservative Speech, Even While Apparently Allowing Scammers to Use its Platform

I’ll let you draw your own conclusions, but it is clear to me that Facebook is “straining a gnat and swallowing a camel.” It and its personnel need to be exposed and held accountable.

Nothing less than Americans’ constitutional right of free speech is at stake.

 

For more information on this topic, go here.

Links to all the articles in this series are available here.

Copyright © 2021 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.

top image credit: Photo by dole777 on Unsplash