Over 17,000 Facebook users have signed up to participate in a “blackout” protest of the social media giant set for August 25. But you’d never know it because the so-called “mainstream media” has yet to mention the protest that has grown by more than 600 percent since we first reported it last Sunday. Event spokesman Kevin Kordys said Sunday he hopes it’s simply a “matter of awareness,” since more conservative outlets, like Glenn Beck’s The Blaze, have also not reported the event.
“Facebook Blackout” asks users to temporarily suspend their account for a period of 24 hours and asks business users to suspend all advertising for the same length of time.
Although the event has not been noticed by the mainstream media, it was noticed by Joe Wurzelbacher, better known as “Joe the Plumber,” and was mentioned on his blog, “Joe for America.” We reached out to Wurzelbacher to determine if he supported the event, but have not received a response.
While the liberal media has ignored the event, liberals have not.
As soon as the event was known, it was targeted.
“First Amendment advocates of all political views, including foreign nationals, have been joining the movement to protect free speech, and are welcome,” Kordys said.
But a number simply wanted to cause trouble, Kordys added, by posting vile and hateful comments and reporting them as being from Facebook Blackout members.
Administrators of the event have been slapped by Facebook for innocuous comments, some of which were not even directed at the people who presumably filed the reports that got them in trouble.
On Thursday, for example, event administrator Mark Carpenter was punished by Facebook for posting a comment saying that a detractor was simply seeking attention. Facebook’s Katie Harbath has yet to explain how Carpenter’s comment violated the site’s community standards.
Since the event started, Facebook has become “ban-happy,” slapping users into “Facebook jail” for innocuous posts. Joseph L. Parker, a Christian writer for Examiner.com, was recently taken to task for thanking a reader who “liked” his work.
We have received a number of reports from Facebook users and page administrators who say they have been punished for minor comments. One user said he was placed on a 12-hour ban for simply inviting friends to the Blackout event.
This is the kind of treatment Kordys says the event is protesting.
“We are asking people, businesses, advertisers and ‘promoters’ to disable/deactivate their accounts for 24 hours (or more) to send the message that fairness is expected from a social media site, as it is in all aspects of life,” he wrote.
Related:
- Facebook goes ban-happy, punishes user for saying ‘thank you’
- Facebook suspends ‘Blackout’ event admin for post saying woman seeking attention
- Report: Facebook says invites to ‘Blackout’ protest event ‘spammy’
- Liberals freaking out over conservative ‘Facebook Blackout’ protest
- A short list of words safe to use on Facebook
- Controversial Facebook page says Jesus Christ should’ve been aborted
- Facebook protest calls for ‘blackout’ of site over treatment of conservatives
- Conservative tells liberals to stop living off the government, Facebook bans him
- Liberals Are people Too…Mean, Selfish People
- Facebook apologizes to Kirk Cameron for blocking new movie
- What the Daily Beast doesn’t tell you about Freedom from Facebook Day
- Facebook says ‘Zimmerman must Die’ does not violate community standards
- Facebook removes ‘Kill Zimmerman’ page after saying it does not violate rules
- Questions raised after Facebook yanks popular ‘Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children’
- Facebook pages call for death of George Zimmerman, rioting for Trayvon Martin
- Facebook bans Fox News’ Todd Starnes over post supporting NRA, Paula Deen, Jesus
- Facebook: Page advocating the beheading of infidels does not violate rules
- Facebook: Beheading video ‘doesn’t violate’ standards for graphic violence
- Facebook justifies decision to not pull grisly beheading video
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