Liarbook's shockingly dishonest censorship
Stealing revenue from a local business is not protected by the First Amendment.
I have met Jeremy Hogan several times. A former photographer for the Herald-Times, Hogan has been covering local news and events for The Bloomingtonian for several years now. According to Facebook, The Bloomingtonian has been used to "pretend to be a local or domestic voice." The page was "permanently banned" from Facebook for this so-called "violation" of the so-called "rules." After users applied pressure, Facebook reversed the ban.
Obviously, the accusation that The Bloomingtonian "pretends" to be local is a lie. This, along with a very long string of lies from Meta about moderation decisions, is why I refer to Facebook as Liarbook and will for the remainder of this article. They have proven exactly who and what they are, and why platforms like Gab are so important for free speech and independent journalism.
Liarbook is a private company, and can choose to allow or forbid the content they want. If for whatever reason Liarbook does not like Hogan or The Bloomingtonian, they are free to say they do not want that content on the platform. However, as a major corporation, Liarbook should be honest about it. The claim that The Bloomingtonian is not a local source is not only an obvious lie, it is so patently absurd that anyone in Monroe County who sees it should immediately burst out laughing. At least try to make your lies believable.
This is why Liarbook needs to have every single moderation decision reviewed by a human being. Liarbook's algorithm has been demonstrated to be fatally flawed on many occasions, including the laughable fabrication that a meme urging people to "be kind" is actually anti-vaccine propaganda. The fact that the algorithm banned The Bloomingtonian on totally fraudulent pretenses shows why human review of these things is necessary.
Liarbook's fraud has real world consequences. The Bloomingtonian's Liarbook page had 67,000 followers, where they were able to keep track of important community information. At a time when local newspapers are dying, independent journalists have stepped into the gap (especially in Bloomington) to continue providing local news coverage as well as dialogue about what is happening in local communities. Liarbook itself has expressed concern about the decline of local newspapers, while their fraudulent censorship accelerates the decline of community and accelerates making everything national.
Liarbook also disabled monetization for the Page, significantly affecting The Bloomingtonian's income stream. While I oppose government intervention in content moderation, Liarbook should not be legally permitted to jerk businesses around and steal their advertising and subscription revenue based on non-existent violations of the so-called "rules." The law should be changed so Liarbook faces steep fines for this behavior, which would be paid directly to the businesses who lost revenue due to Liarbook's dishonesty. Free speech should be protected, but theft is not free speech.
Social media has done a number of good things. Liarbook, specifically, has the potential to be a true local community forum for people around the country, especially with such a broad user base. This would also significantly increase transparency in local government and allow citizens to stay informed about their local communities. That is why fraudulent decisions like this are so very counterproductive and hypocritical. Reforms are needed, including eliminating algorithm-based moderation and passing legal protections for businesses who have revenue stolen.