It seems that pretty much everything is now considered “hate speech” at Facebook, the social media giant once dubbed the “world’s most dangerous censor.” On Tuesday, we received word that Aaron Guidry, a moderator of the West Virginia-based Warriors for Christ was told by the company that a prayer for the protection of children violated the site’s rules on hate speech.
The prayer simply read, “I command the demons of perversion and witchcraft to leave the minds of those precious children right now in the mighty name of Jesus.”
Facebook responded by saying the prayer “goes against our standards on hate speech so no one else can see it.”
We’re not sure how the prayer violates Facebook’s nebulous and apparently ever-changing standards, so we reached out to the company for clarification. We still have received no response as of this writing.
Incidents like this, by the way, are part of the reason a majority of conservatives no longer trust the platform.
They are also part of the reason activist Chris Sevier drafted the Stop Social Media Censorship proposal, a measure now being eyed by several state lawmakers across the country.
As Sevier explained here:
In my opinion, Facebook has perpetrated a form of fraudulent inducement, tortious interference of business relations, breach of the duty of care, unjust enrichment, and the intentional infliction of emotional distress by at first allowing conservatives and Christians to build a platform where they were supposedly free to express themselves only to then turn around and arbitrarily find some speech permissible and other speech impermissible.
If the measure passes, Sevier said, “those who have been banned or censored for their political and/or religious point of view will now have the means to hold those companies accountable.”
Jeff Note:
As a Jew, while it is not my cup of tea, I cannot find a reason to classify this short prayer as hate speech. I would expect that Facebook will eventually pull back from their claim that it doesn’t meet community standards.
As far as Mr.Sevier’s legislation, I am torn, to be honest, This legislation is a conundrum for conservatives. On the one hand, social media is taking advantage of the situation and on its own skewing the public’s knowledge about particular issues. But on the other hand, as conservatives, we believe that things should be left to the marketplace to decide (perhaps the Koch Brothers want to buy Facebook?). Or maybe someone is willing to gift me a few billion so I can purchase facebook
And please keep in mind, a new site has emerged that seeks to swap the roles of the jailer and jailed. Its name, Facecrook Jail, is a riff on the meme, and it not only documents instances of bias, censorship, and abuse by Facebook but also lets users share their own experiences and grievances with the social media site.
Much of this post was first seen at Conservative Firing Line
