Facebook reinstated several accounts connected to a leading
Virginia gun-rights group one week after suspending its pages
without explanation.
Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense
League (VCDL), told the�Washington Free Beacon on Monday his
Facebook account had been restored along with those of other VCDL
leadership and the group’s official page. Facebook suspended and
deactivated several of its accounts in the lead-up to the group’s
lobby day on Jan. 18. Even after the lobby day
event went off without incident, Facebook continued to purge VCDL
leadership from the site. Ken van Wyk, a VCDL executive member who
helps organize the event each year, saw his account deactivated as
he attempted to memorialize baseball great Hank Aaron on
Friday.
“I’m a pro-2A conservative, but I’ve never advocated for
anything unlawful,” he told the Free Beacon. “I’d just
finished posting an ‘RIP Hank Aaron’ note when my ‘session
timed out,’ and I was told my account was disabled. I tried to go
through their process to have this reviewed and immediately got a
note saying that I had violated their community standards and their
decision could not be reversed.”
After defending Van Cleave’s suspension for violating the
company’s “coordinating harm policies” and saying the decision “was
re-reviewed and stands” on Thursday, Facebook went a step further
and suspended the VCDL page on Friday. Several hours later, the
VCDL page had been restored though the personal pages of VCDL
leaders remained suspended.
“The Page was removed in error,” Kristen Morea, a Facebook
spokeswoman, told the Free Beacon on Friday
night. “We have since restored the Page and admins and
apologize for the inconvenience.”
By Monday, personal accounts of the VCDL leaders—including Van
Cleave—had been restored as well.
While Facebook explained their reversal on the VCDL page, it did
not explain why it stood by the banning of Van Cleave on Thursday
only to reverse themselves on Monday. The company also refused to
answer questions on what, if anything, Van Cleave had done wrong.
Morea said the company could not provide any details on how Van
Cleave was determined to have violated their policies or which
posts they found concerning. “We don’t share further details
about enforcement out a [sic] very real and credible threat that
people can game the system,” she said.
The VCDL accounts were banned as social media and tech companies
swept away huge numbers of accounts in the aftermath of the Capitol
riot. Mailchimp
booted VCDL from their service shortly before Facebook banned
Van Cleave in the lead up to the
group’s peaceful lobby day event in Richmond, Va. While the
companies have justified the mass bans as necessary to disrupt
communications between potentially violent extremists, critics have
pointed to the VCDL ordeal and other
account suspensions as evidence peaceful groups are being
caught in the dragnet without so much as an explanation for
why.
“Suddenly, poof, it was back,” Van Cleave said of his account.
“No explanation as to why it disappeared and why it’s now back and
how it was so bad that they couldn’t even discuss restoring it, yet
they restored it.”
Van Cleave said he was frustrated by Facebook’s apparent
targeting of the group because VCDL was not involved in the Capitol
riots and has never had any violent incidents at its events. “I
don’t understand the whole ordeal,” he said. ” I don’t put anything
up there radical.”
He added that some VCDL members are reconsidering their use of
Facebook in the aftermath of the suspensions. He feels VCDL simply
was not treated properly by the social media giant.
“They did this and said, well, you can appeal if you think we’re
wrong, and then they don’t let you appeal,” he said. “It’s like a
star chamber where you don’t get to present your side or offer any
evidence that they’ve made a mistake.”
The post
Facebook Reverses Ban Against Virginia Gun-Rights Group
appeared first on Washington Free
Beacon.
