When Facebook Wants to See Your Papers
Shadows over Facebook logo
Aytac Unal / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images
By Dana Cloud, Socialist WorkerPublished August 8, 2018
Last week, Facebook shut down dozens of pages and accounts, including some
that were publicizing plans for protesting the fascist "White Civil Rights
Rally" in Washington, DC, on August 11, claiming suspicions that the
accounts were fronts for Russian agents meddling in US politics.
One of the deleted pages, called "No Unite the Right 2 - DC," was helping to
organize a protest among a coalition of anti-fascist groups. The
justification for the deletion was that one creator of the page among
several was a page called "Resisters," which Facebook investigators
suspected of being connected to Russian hackers.
As the Huffington Post reported: "In addition to the Resisters, there were
five other legitimate co-hosts listed on the 'No Unite The Right 2- DC'
event page, Facebook officials acknowledged. But because the company was
concerned about Resisters, it opted to wipe out the entire event."
The ability of this monopolistic social media giant to erase "hundreds of
hours of online and on-the-ground organizing," as activists told Huffington
Post, is alarming, not only for the perils it poses to organizing and First
Amendment rights, but also for its underlying ideology.
A chat with "Facebook Business" about banned ads
Facebook's logic is that inflammatory or radical political posts are
"divisive," and therefore, there is therefore a strong likelihood that they
are the work of Russian or other foreign actors looking to weaken the US
system.
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***
I wish I could say this was a one-time mistake, but I know different. My own
political Facebook posts have been censored - pending my ability to prove
that I am a US citizen! The implications of this policy for immigrants
exercising their rights on social media are ominous.
I was attempting to advertise on Facebook for a protest in Syracuse, New
York, calling for immigrant justice and abolition of the Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, when I received a message that my
promotion wasn't approved, because my page wasn't "authorized for ads with
political content."
I replied, "It's not partisan. In addition, banning activist ads like this
is unconstitutional censorship. My friends and their friends appreciate
knowing about events where they can express their views. This habit of
Facebook's curtailing of activist content is cause for serious concern."
In response, I was invited to appeal the decision, and when I did so, I
received this message:
Hi Dana,
I've put together some information about our ad policies and the actions you
can take.
Here's what's preventing your ad (6104842897370) from being approved:
The text and/or imagery you're using is related to politics or an issue of
national importance, based on the definition we're using for enforcement.
However, your Page is not authorized to run these types of ads.
You can learn more about what qualifies in the Ads Help Center.
What to do next:
You must authorize your Page to run ads related to politics or an issue of
national importance. To begin the authorization process, please visit your
Page's Settings. You can find more information here. Once you're authorized
to run these ads, choose the option to run this ad with the disclaimer you
create in the Authorizations process.
Was this helpful? Let us know.
Thanks, Barry
When I wrote back, I was told that in order for me to post the ad, I would
need to take several steps to prove that I was a US citizen. I was directed
to the "Ads related to politics or issues of national importance"page, and
from there to the section on "Getting authorized"to run such ads in the US.
The "ad authorization checklist" there clearly lays out the basis for
censorship. To post an ad about anything political, one must be ready to
present proof of US residency, including a mailing address, US driver's
license or passport, and the last four digits of a Social Security number.
This practice is horrifying. Not only does it put up unnecessary obstacles
to prevent activists from reaching thousands of people with alternative
ideas and opportunities for dissent, it also excludes millions of immigrants
and non-residents, who have a significant interest in communicating their
experiences of oppression through social media.
This is major threat to online organizing around justice for immigrants and
refugees, as well as international solidarity campaigns.
***
Facebook also censored me when I was reposting a daily alert from this
website, Socialist Worker. Again, when I appealed, I was told that the
content might be "divisive" and sponsored by a foreign power.
The idea that any post on an issue of public importance should refrain from
being "divisive" curtails the ability of individuals and organizations on
the left to expose and discuss the very real divisions in freedom and
prosperity that divide capitalist society - between rich and poor, working
class and ruling class, immigrant and "native-born," and so on.
We on the left want to expose these divisions. To label us as "divisive" for
calling attention to these divisions - and to the right-wing thugs
determined to inflame them - is not to stand for objectivity or civil
discourse, but to clearly side with the forces of inequality and bigotry,
while hiding behind the threat of Russian hackers.
What Facebook is calling "coordinated inauthentic behavior" is actually
coordinated critical behavior. The censorship unfolding on social media now
renders critique and activism as "fake news," perpetuating the idea that
anything partisan or controversial from outside the two-party system
dominated by monopolies like Facebook is by definition "inauthentic."
There is no evidence of an actual conspiracy to block radical political
content on the grounds of a new Russian scare. But it also doesn't seem
entirely coincidental that the panic over "divisive" content and Russian
influence is threatening activist use of vital social media platforms at a
time when Democratic politicians are gearing up to capture activist energy
for votes in the coming midterm elections.
This panic is starting to have real consequences, as shown by the shutdown
of the "No Unite the Right 2" page.
In the name of keeping us safe, Facebook cut off thousands of people from
information about how to link up with others seeking to protect our
communities from neo-Nazis - whose murder of Heather Heyer in
Charlottesville last year showed that they are a far greater threat than
Russian agents.
Thi
