America First conservative and 2022 candidate for U.S. Congress in Virginia’s 2nd District, Jarome Bell is suing Facebook and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg in federal court on charges of anti-Christian censorship, electioneering, and breach of contract, accusing the big tech giant of using Soviet-style tactics to stifle speech and information at odds with their left-wing agenda and directly interfere in America’s elections.
Like countless other Facebook users and former President Donald Trump, Bell has repeatedly seen his pro-Christian, conservative speech censored by Facebook and has had his account suspended from the site over conservative content.
Bell, a retired Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, filed his suit against Facebook in the Eastern District of Virginia, requesting a trial by jury on grounds that Facebook has violated his 1st Amendment rights while committing flagrant abuse of Section 230 of the federal Communication Decency Act.
Bell also accuses Facebook of breach of contract, breach of the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing, and of violating the Virginia and California Deceptive Trade Practices Acts. He is seeking a declaratory judgment on the matter, giving the case potentially far-reaching implications.
According to court filings, Bell accuses Facebook of using bait and switch tactics against its users by marketing its platform as a neutral communications service in which users can communicate privately or publicly with one another, while at the same time employing teams of Facebook moderators to censor their posts and conversations when their ideas collide with the left-wing agenda approved by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his close political allies.
Facebook is reminiscent of a “Soviet telephone operator interrupting a phone call,” Bell’s filing asserts. “Allowing only for ideas Mark Zuckerberg wants to propagate to be distributed.”
“The ultimately creepy behavior of Facebook is incompatible with its promise: To allow we the users to talk to each other just as with the telephone company,” Bell’s suit continues, tying Facebook and big tech to the Democrat Party and their efforts to influence and alter election results, and accusing Facebook of hiding behind a twisted interpretation of Section 230 to do so.
“Nothing in Facebook’s contract or Section 230 gives it a roving commission to decide what is true or false, and Facebook’s track record shows that Facebook is not very good at it, either,” says Bell. “Section 230 is about fighting obscenity and illegal activity, not advancing leftist policies.”
Bell laid out his suit against Facebook in a press release made at the time of its filing, saying that truth is on the side of conservatives. He also reiterated Facebook’s role in undermining America’s election process, telling them to step out of the way of the American people.
“The left knows that the truth helps conservatives,” said Bell. “So giant social media companies are blatantly censoring the truth. Worse, social media has actually interfered in federal and local elections. Our would-be tech overlords need to step aside and stop meddling in the lives of Americans, up to and including interfering in affairs of state — or We The People will be forced to move them aside through the legislation process.”
“These tyrants want to keep the internet under lock and key so as to prevent the rise of Donald Trump’s America First populism,” said Bell. “And I’m here to stop it.”
The release from Bell’s campaign went on to document several instances of Facebook’s authoritarian overreach and election meddling that have impacted Bell and his campaign directly.
As part of his campaign for Congress and informing the voters of his positions, Chief Bell posted a historical quote from Heinrich Himmler warning that the Nazis came to power in part by banning private ownership of guns.
Facebook censored this Second Amendment post and banned Chief Bell for 3 days.
Chief Bell as a candidate also asked questions about the proper government response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Facebook “covered” that post.
While Facebook removes posts like the ones exemplified in Bell’s press release, the Congressional candidate and former Navy Chief points out that the social media network has no problem allowing “outrageous and intentionally offensive posts against Christians” to be posted and to remain on the platform, with Facebook claiming that the posts do not violate community standards.
“Political posts by conservatives are censored, but posts intending to insult conservatives or Christians are left up,” the press release states.
Legal expert and attorney, Ken Ferguson recently appeared on the Stew Peters Show to give his thoughts on the lawsuit, telling the host that Bell “hit it right on the head” in the case against Facebook, lauding his assertion in court filings that Facebook has abused the good faith clause of Section 230.
At the end of the segment, Peters told viewers that he too was exploring his options after being targeted by Facebook.
“And of course, we here at the Stew Peters Show are obviously exploring our options as well.”
