Last week, I spent a wonderful and non-political week in Florida with my daughter, son-in-law and toddler granddaughters. While at the airport waiting for my plane back, I tried to share some photos of my trip with my friends on Facebook. However, I could not post anything.
I instead saw this notice saying that I was blocked for 20 hours. I later got another notice saying I was blocked from posting on any groups for 48 hours! Why?
The notice said I was suspended for posting “hate speech” in violation of Facebook “Community Standards” on two occasions. The first was a post from last June 29. The second was said to be a comment from December 29, the day I was suspended. However, it was actually posted a month or two earlier.
I can’t repeat the exact words of those posts. If I did, I would be punished again for posting more “hate speech”. I would get suspended again. So would anyone who shared that post. Both posts deal with fellow members of my religious/ethnic group. That group is commonly referred to by a word that begins with the letter “J”. That is because we are descended from an ancient Semitic tribe in the Middle East called Yehuda in Hebrew and Judah in English.
My June 29, 2021 Facebook post shared an article from the Jerusalem Post. It described how a popular Philadelphia food truck vendor had been kicked out of a food truck festival there because he was from Israel. Organizers said they feared his presence would offend others at their festival. I posted that article with a comment saying something like this:
“Yet most American members of my tribe are so clueless that they believe media and Democrats who say Christians and a handful of pathetic ‘right-wing extremists’ are biggest threat”.
Because of this “hate speech”, Facebook sent me a warning. It also further restricted the number of my “friends” and “followers” who were allowed to see my posts. It also warned and restricted groups who shared that post. One of them was the Polish American Republican Group that I am a member of. (I am a friend of its founder Johan Iwanowski, and three of my four grandparents were born in Poland.)
About five months later, I exchanged comments with someone who brought up the Holocaust in a long online discussion. We were talking about the payment of “reparations” to black Americans today, whose ancestors may have been slaves in one of 15 Southern states more than 160 years ago.
I personally believe that every Holocaust survivor who lost freedom, property, or family members was entitled to compensation from Germans of that same generation. However, I do not believe the children or grandchildren of Holocaust survivors today are entitled to compensation from the children or grandchildren of that generation of Germans. Today’s Germans had nothing to do with the Holocaust.
In justifying the payment of “reparations” to American blacks today for slavery 160 years ago, I was confronted with the fact that members of my tribe claim they are entitled to reparations as the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors.
I posted a comment like this in response:
“Yes, Communists have often used Holocaust and gullible, useful idiot members of my tribe to advance their cause, often to hurt members of my tribe and Israel”.
Again, this online discussion took place sometime during last October or November. However, the Facebook notice of December 29 incorrectly stated that I posted this on December 29, the same day my posting privileges were suspended.
What can we learn from this?
First, it seems that the Facebook police are triggered by key words, like the “J” word for members of my tribe to identity “victims” of hate speech. To stay on Facebook, it is important to use substitute words, just as members of my tribe used the Hebrew word “Amkha” (Your People) rather than “Yid” when talking to each other during the Holocaust. During the 1980’s, Jewish Refuseniks used the Hebrew Letters “Kof Gimel Bet” rather than “KGB” when talking to each other about the Communist secret police. For that reason, I always use words like “Followers of the Prophet Muhammad”, “Wahabis” and “Holy War” instead of more commonly used terms when discussing people of that persuasion.
Second, there is often a big time delay between when we post what Facebook calls “hate speech”, “false news” or “misinformation”, and when we are warned and punished for it. It seems that something else is triggering the warning and punishment. It often seems like when we make effective arguments or post information that effectively challenges “woke” leaders or their agenda, someone reports us to the Facebook police. The Facebook police then do a thorough search of all our posts for as far back as they need to find something that violates their “Community Standards”. Only then are we warned and punished.
Third, for this reason, we need to understand that our days on Facebook are limited, no matter what we do. We must immediately move ourselves and as many friends and followers as we can to a safer platform. At this point, we at LibertyAndProsperity.com have selected Gab.com as our best option. We recommend opening an account there as soon as possible, and following @libertyandprosperity1776 there. We also recommend joining groups there, and posting comments and following as many people as you can so you can build a following. Right now, we have only 97 followers on Gab.com, compared to 8,000 on Facebook and 930 on Twitter. However, as former President John F. Kennedy said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Fourth. As we make the transition, we must watch our words carefully to stay on traditional platforms like Facebook and Twitter as long as we can. According to Rick Shaftan, my campaign consultant when I ran for Congress and NJ State Senate, 60% of Primary voters are on Facebook, 7% are on Twitter, and only 1% are on Gab. Although it is good to openly and honestly share our thoughts and information with like-minded people at Gab.com, we cannot afford to ignore our friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter. Until we bring them to free and safe platforms like Gab.com, we must continue to also post on Facebook and Twitter. . . and comply with their “Community Standards”.
LibertyAndProsperity.com is a tax-exempt, non-political education organization of roughly 200 citizens who mostly live near Atlantic City, New Jersey. We formed this group in 2003. We volunteer our time and money to maintain this website. We do our best to post accurate information. However, we admit we make mistakes from time to time. If you see any mistakes or inaccurate, misleading, outdated, or incomplete information in this or any of our posts, please let us know. We will do our best to correct the problem as soon as possible. Please email us at info@libertyandprosperity.com or telephone (609) 927-7333.
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Seth Grossman, Executive Director
LibertyAndProsperity.com
info@libertyandprosperity.com
(609) 927-7333