Posts

Conservatives Outraged After Facebook Deletes Former Breitbart Editor’s Account

By The Hill. The deletion and subsequent restoration of the Facebook account of a former Breitbart editor sparked outrage from conservatives on Tuesday.

Raheem Kassam‏ tweeted early Tuesday that his account had been deleted. . .

Facebook said it had removed a page that violated its community standards for praise, and then accidentally removed the profiles of that page’s administrators.

It was not clear what page administered by Kassam was removed for violating Facebook’s community standards, or why it specifically was removed. . .

“How come it is only right wing/conservative accounts that get “removed in error” pending “investigations”?” Kassam tweeted after Facebook’s statement on his account was released. “And who watchers the watchers in this regard?” (Read more from “Conservatives Outraged After Facebook Deletes Former Breitbart Editor’s Account” HERE)

___________________________________________________

James O’Keefe Claims Proof Facebook Censored Conservatives

By Newsmax. James O’Keefe of Project Veritas says a former Facebook employee has proof the social media giant’s practices for limiting harassment and hate speech is designed to censor conservative accounts.

“It’s clear that Facebook is targeting the language of the right,” O’Keefe says in a video published to his site Wednesday. . .

“We fired this person a year ago for breaking multiple employment policies and using her contractor role at Facebook to perform a stunt for Project Veritas,” a [Facebook] spokesperson told The Verge. “Unsurprisingly, the claims she is making validate her agenda and ignore the processes we have in place to ensure Facebook remains a platform to give people a voice, regardless of their political ideology.” (Read more from “James O’Keefe Claims Proof Facebook Censored Conservatives” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Delete Facebook: Study Reveals Facebook Users Are Happier After Leaving for a Month

You’ve no doubt heard anecdotal evidence of Facebook users feeling better after they’ve quit the social network, but how often does that help, really? A fair amount, according to researchers. A study from New York University and Stanford showed that Facebook users were happier, more satisfied with life and slightly less likely to feel anxious, depressed or lonely. They also used other social networks less, and used Facebook less when they came back. . .

This doesn’t necessarily mean that you should rush to delete your account — as TechCrunch observed, there are some factors to consider. This is self-reported data, so there’s a chance this doesn’t represent the subjects’ complete emotional landscape. It’s unclear what would happen if the break were longer, for that matter. Also, the researchers conducted this study ahead of the 2016 US presidential election, right when political tensions were high. It might have been more enjoyable to leave Facebook simply because it helped users avoid heated debates and rhetoric. (Read more from “Delete Facebook: Study Reveals Facebook Users Are Happier After Leaving for a Month” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Report: Facebook and Twitter Consult With Terror-Tied CAIR Over Who Gets Banned From Platforms

The Hamas-tied Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), which is best known as an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism financing case in U.S. history, appears to have access to high-ranking Facebook and Twitter executives and has communicated with these individuals about who should be allowed to stay on their platforms, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Tuesday.

The Wall Street Journal reports that CAIR officials “complained to Twitter” about activist Laura Loomer, citing a tweet in which she called the anti-Semitic Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., an anti-Semite and an apologist for Sharia law. Loomer was later permanently banned from Twitter.

Zahra Billoo, the executive director of CAIR’s San Francisco chapter, was quoted in the Journal piece as an individual who appears to have special access to both Twitter and Facebook.

“The council doesn’t often step in to advocate against other users, says Executive Director Zahra Billoo, but did so in the case of Ms. Loomer based on her previous comments about Muslims,” the piece explains.

Yet the Wall Street Journal fails to note that Billoo herself is a proven radical extremist. In tweets that remain publicly available, Billoo has expressed her support for an Islamic caliphate and Sharia law. She also claims, in multiple tweets, that ISIS is on the same moral plane as American and Israeli soldiers, adding that “our troops are engaged in terrorism.”

Billoo is not an anomaly at CAIR. Her views reflect the mainstream consensus within the organization, which over the years has attempted to transform itself from a clandestine Hamas-funding operation to a mainstream Muslim “civil rights organization.” CAIR directors have cheered terrorist attacks, publicly declared support for terrorist groups, and engage in regular bigotry against various religions, ethnicities, women, homosexuals, and others.

However, not everyone is buying into this supposed transformation. In 2014, the United Arab Emirates classified CAIR as a terrorist organization, given its ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Several bills have been introduced in both houses of Congress designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. It remains unclear if CAIR would be included, given its substantial ties to Hamas and, by extension, the Muslim Brotherhood.

For years, Silicon Valley tech giants have been all too eager to look the other way and allow groups like CAIR to use their platform to spread propaganda completely unchecked. Others have bought into the group’s newfound “civil rights group” label and even funded CAIR’s advocacy. Now, the social media titans appear to be consulting with CAIR on the censoring and banning of unwanted individuals and groups. (For more from the author of “Report: Facebook and Twitter Consult With Terror-Tied CAIR Over Who Gets Banned From Platforms” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Franklin Graham Banned From Facebook

Reverend Franklin Graham says that he was banned from Facebook pursuant to a more than two-year-old post in support of North Carolina’s House Bill 2, which mandated that citizens use the bathroom that corresponds with their biological sex.

The bill was signed into law in 2016 and was considered by many to be bigoted — and it provoked a wave of corporate boycotts targeting the state. It’s not clear which specific post got Graham banned, but the evangelist has been outspoken in support of that bill and of other similar pieces of legislation. . .

“Facebook is censoring free speech,” Graham said via his Twitter account. “They’re making & changing the rules. Truth is truth. God made the rules & His Word is truth. The free exchange of ideas is part of our country’s DNA. You can read the post that Facebook took down last week here.” (Read more from “Franklin Graham Banned From Facebook” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Facebook Censors Photo That Depicts Santa Claus Kneeling to Honor Baby Jesus

Facebook has covered over a posting of a picture of Santa Claus kneeling before the Baby Jesus, warning viewers that the photo “may show violent or graphic content.”

A second warning beneath the obscured image of Santa on bended knee, reverentially adoring the Christ Child states, “This photo was automatically covered so you can decide if you want to see it.” . . .

Facebook explains on its site what it means by “Violence and graphic content:” . . .

The image in question — of the Savior of the World as an infant and a popularized version of a saint — was originally posted on December 1, 2015, with this accompanying poem explaining the touching illustration:

My dear precious Jesus, I did not mean to take your place,
I only bring toys and things and you bring love and grace.
People give me lists of wishes and hope that they came true;
But you hear prayers of the heart and promise your will to do.
Children try to be good and not to cry when I am coming to town;
But you love them unconditionally and that love will abound.
I leave only a bag of toys and temporary joy for a season;
But you leave a heart of love, full of purpose and reasons.
I have a lot of believers and what one might call fame;
But I never healed the blind or tried to help the lame.
I have rosy cheeks and a voice full of laughter;
But no nail—scarred hands or a promise of the hereafter.
You may find several of me in town or at a mall;
But there is only one omnipotent you, to answer a sinner’s call.
And so, my dear precious Jesus, I kneel here to pray;
To worship and adore you on this, your holy birthday.

(Read more from “Facebook Censors Photo That Depicts Santa Claus Kneeling to Honor Baby Jesus in Manger” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Facebook Pushed a Top Executive to Publicly Disavow Support for Trump, Then Fired Him

In one of the most shocking stories to get little media coverage this year, The Wall Street Journal reported ten days ago that Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg pressured a top executive at his company to apologize for his support of President Trump in the 2016 election, and issue a letter just before that election explaining that he had switched his support to libertarian Gary Johnson.

According to reporters Kirsten Grind and Keach Hagey, Oculus founder Palmer Luckey says that he was put on leave and then fired for his support for Trump. The Journal reported:

In the fall of 2016, as unhappiness over the donation simmered, Facebook executives including Mr. Zuckerberg pressured Mr. Luckey to publicly voice support for libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, despite Mr. Luckey’s yearslong support of Mr. Trump, according to people familiar with the conversations and internal emails viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Luckey ended up negotiating a $100 million settlement, an acceleration of stock awards and bonuses that he would have received thanks to his sale of Oculus VR to Facebook in 2014. Facebook, for its part, denied that Luckey was fired for his political views. But Luckey was a supporter of President Trump’s for years, going back to 2011, when he urged Trump to run for president by mail. In September 2016, The Daily Beast reported that Luckey had given a $10,000 donation to NimbleAmerica, an anti-Hillary ad group focused on trolling the Democratic candidate. Luckey then apparently posted on a Reddit chain under a pseudonym regarding Clinton:

Hillary Clinton is corrupt, a warmonger, a freedom-stripper. Not the good kind you see dancing in bikinis on Independence day, the bad kind that strips freedom from citizens and grants it to donors.

(Read more from “Facebook Pushed a Top Executive to Publicly Disavow Support for Trump, Then Fired Him” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Uh Oh… Anti-Liberty Facebook’s Policy Chief Is Close Friends With Kavanaugh

By Business Insider. Facebook is scrambling to contain the fallout after a senior executive’s attendance at Brett Kavanaugh’s testimony before the Senate last week caused an internal employee uproar.

Joel Kaplan, the company’s policy chief, was visibly seated behind Kavanaugh, Trump’s embattled nominee for the US Supreme Court, as the judge angrily defended himself against allegations of sexual misconduct by multiple women. (He declined to comment on the day when approached by a Business Insider reporter.)

Kaplan and Kavanaugh are friends, having worked together in the Bush administration, and he was there in a personal capacity — but his appearance has enraged employees, and company leadership screwed up its initial response. News of the employee uproar was first reported by The New York Times.

“There is absolutely no such thing as personal capacity when you’re a high level manage/executive at the company … I might feel uncomfortable sharing the workplace with this person now,” one employee wrote in a message seen by Business Insider. . .

In a statement, Facebook spokesperson Bertie Thomson told Business Insider that the company plans to hold a townhall meeting on Friday to address the issue, and acknowledged the company screwed up in its internal response. (Read more from “Uh Oh… Anti-Liberty Facebook’s Policy Chief Is Close Friends With Kavanaugh” HERE)

___________________________________________________

Who Did FBI Interview in Its Investigation of Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh?

By USA Today. he FBI ended up interviewing nine witnesses in its investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s alleged sexual misconduct when he was in high school and college.

White House Spokesman Raj Shah said Thursday that the FBI did comprehensive interviews of all nine witnesses, whom he would not name. Officials said the FBI also contacted a tenth, unnamed witness, but is wasn’t clear whether that witness submitted to a full interview.

The FBI did not interview Kavanaugh or Christine Blasey Ford, who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee last Thursday that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a high school house party in the early 1980s.

Democrats say the failure to interview Kavanaugh or Ford shows that the investigation was a “sham” that was unduly restricted by the White House. Republicans say the FBI didn’t need to interview them because they both testified extensively before the committee last week.

Agents also did not interview Julie Swetnick, who alleges in a sworn statement that Kavanaugh and his friend, Mark Judge, tried to get teenage girls “inebriated and disoriented so they could then be ‘gang raped’ in a side room or bedroom by a ‘train’ of numerous boys.” (Read more from “Who Did FBI Interview in Its Investigation of Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh?” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Facebook Censors Pro-Gun Research…Depending on Which Media Outlet Covers the Story

Last week, the Crime Research Prevention Center (CRPC) released a new study detailing America’s contribution to mass shootings around the world.

CRPC decided to share a Fox News piece detailing the research they conducted on their Facebook page. The organization wanted to boost their post as an ad so more people would see the study’s results. That’s when Facebook’s bias became clear.

One of the ads CRPC posted was a direct link to their website where people could download the study’s results. Facebook quickly approved the ad and all was fine.

When the organization went to post an ad linking to a Fox News article that detailed the study’s results, the ad was not approved. . .

“In our appeal, we wrote back that the Fox News link was to an original news story. I told them that I don’t understand how FB views a news story as either ‘low quality’ or ‘disruptive,’ but that we would appreciate them explaining why. Unfortunately, Facebook just repeated its previous response,” CRPC President John Lott wrote on the organization’s website. (Read more from “Facebook Censors Pro-Gun Research…Depending on Which Media Outlet Covers the Story” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Facebook Censors Videos on ‘Masculine Men,’ ‘Moderate Muslims’

Conservative non-profit group PragerU appears to be facing Facebook censorship, as many recent posts from group are suffering from a 99.9999 percent drop in engagement based on Facebook’s own dashboard. The Social Media Masters of the Universe also pulled down two PragerU videos, which it labeled “hate speech.”

Echoing the apparent page limitation of conservative commentating duo Diamond and Silk, the conservative non-profit group PragerU — which produces educational videos on conservative issues — appears to have found its Facebook page’s reach drastically limited. The group’s Facebook page boasts three million followers, but its most recent posts have been seen by almost none of its followers, according to the Facebook dashboard.

PragerU social media influencer Will Witt posted a screenshot of the Facebook page’s dashboard which shows a number of statistics relating to posts from the page, including the reach posts have and how many users have clicked on links in the posts. According to the photos posted by Witt, PragerU’s last nine posts have reached between one and three of their followers. Previous posts have reached between 50,000 and 95,000 of PragerU’s followers.

Witt also posted a number of screenshots of PragerU videos that have been removed by Facebook for “hate speech.” The videos that were removed include one titled “Make Men Masculine Again,” and “Where are the Moderate Muslims?”

(Read more from “Facebook Censors Videos on ‘Masculine Men,’ ‘Moderate Muslims'” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Facebook Takes Their Anti-Gun Stance to a Whole New Level With THIS Policy Change

The issue of 3-D printed guns has been controversial over the last few weeks. Court proceedings and lawsuits have been nonstop and it’s all to answer one question: should 3-D printed guns and their data be treated as a firearm or intellectual property.

Facebook has now decided to weigh in on that debate. The social media giant is now removing content that details how an individual can develop a 3-D printed gun, Reuters reported.

“Sharing instructions on how to manufacture firearms using 3D printers or CNC milling machines is not allowed under our Community Standards. In line with our policies, we are removing this content from Facebook,” a company spokesperson told CNN in a statement.

The sudden change means that if a person wants to share blueprints with friends and family and the link is posted to the social media website, it will not be accessible.

Gun rights activists believe this is Facebook’s attempt at shutting down CodeIsFreeSpeech.com, which was started by a coalition of pro-gun groups — consisting of the Firearms Policy Coalition, Firearms Policy Foundation, The Calguns Foundation and the California Coalition of Federal Firearms Licensees — where they posted the same exact blueprints Defense Distributed planned on posting beginning Aug. 1.

(Read more from “Facebook Takes Their Anti-Gun Stance to a Whole New Level With This Policy Change” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.