As the U.S. election approaches, the threat to freedom of expression seems to be at an all-time high. You almost get the feeling there are forces at work to suppress progressive voices. Here are two cases in point; you be the judge. The first involves the social network site Facebook, which boasts about one billion users. The other involves government and the National Football League (NFL).
First, the Facebook flap. Matthew Desmond is the editor of a terrific and very popular website, Addicting Info. In fact, according to Alexa, the “web information company,” Addicting Info is one of the most visited websites in the world.
About his mission, Matt writes: “Addicting Info started as a resource to discredit all the lies and propaganda that the right wing spreads. When I undertook the project I thought I would probably have about 100 different articles about a number of different myths, and people could sort through them at will. Eventually that expanded to news and other info, and I quickly realized the DAUNTING task of actually trying to discredit EVERY right-wing myth that is in existence, especially with the constant creation of new ones.”
As with every organization circulating in cyberspace these days, Addicting Info has a Facebook tie-in. Matt has also started several fan pages on Facebook, all sharing the same essential goal: to suss out, give air to, and debunk the propaganda generated by the extreme right wing.
Tuesday morning I was stunned to learn that Facebook had summarily deleted Matthew Desmond’s personal profile. He had no warning or notice about this; he simply went to log into his account and received a message that it, along with several of his liberal-leaning fan pages, had been disabled. Mr. Desmond’s appeal to have his profile and pages reinstated was denied, without explanation.
From my own experience, I can attest that Matt’s personal profile as well as his fan pages–there to exercise his fundamental right to freedom of speech–have always been administered professionally and responsibly.
There are thousands of people, like Mr. Desmond, who use Facebook to share their wisdom, politics, and creativity. What could be the basis for Facebook’s singling him out and giving him the boot?
And what’s more troubling is that Facebook would let a page that prays for the death of President Obama stand, while deleting a liberally leaning political one. It makes no sense, and implies a great and deep lack of fair play and ethics on Facebook’s part. The absence of consistency by Facebook with regard to their posting policies makes it impossible to avoid questioning their motives—or their influences—for kicking Matt out. The fact that such actions can be taken without due warning or explanation does not inspire confidence in Facebook’s editorial neutrality, and might even cause the paranoid among us to suspect an unsavory, secret agenda. Stay tuned to find out how this dispute develops and is resolved.
Meanwhile, over in Baltimore, Democratic Maryland House of Delegates member Emmett Burns tried to stifle the free speech of Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo, writing to Ravens owner Steve Biscotti, “I find it inconceivable that one of your players, Mr. Brendon Ayanbadejo, would publicly endorse Same-Sex marriage, specifically as a Ravens football player. I am requesting that you take the necessary action, as a National Football League Owner, to inhibit such expressions from your employees and that he be ordered to cease and desist such injurious actions. I know of no other NFL player who has done what Mr. Ayanbadejo is doing.”
This blatant effort to abrogate the First Amendment sparked a firestorm of protest, most notably, a pointedly eloquent, no-holds-barred diatribe from Ayanbadejo’s fellow player, Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe. Among his reasons for speaking up, Kluwe cites his shared alma mater with Ayanbadejo, UCLA, and to inform Mr. Burns that he is at least one other NFL player who has been outspoken in favor of marriage equality. Kluwe is an active supporter of Minnesotans for Equality, a major organization fighting the proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in that state, which will be on the ballot this November. Maryland, Ayanbadejo’s home, is facing its own battle for marriage equality this fall, which made the fracas between Burns and Brendon such a hot-button topic in the first place.
One difference between these two cases of censorship is that in the case of the linebacker and the legislator, the player (Ayanbadejo), his team leadership (Biscotti and team president Dick Cass), and his colleague (Kluwe)—with the support of many thousands of cheering supporters (on Twitter and Facebook)—have pushed back and made it impossible for Mr. Burns not to concede that Brendon is indeed entitled to his First-Amendment right.
As of this writing, however, Matthew Desmond has not received satisfaction, nor so much as a proper explanation of Facebook’s summary suspension of his profile. He spoke with a representative of Facebook on the phone, and is still awaiting the results of a third review. Even if Facebook reinstates his profile and pages to their previous state, the message is still out there—watch what you say—and it cautions vigilance.
All evidence supports the notion that censorship is alive and well in America, and it’s clear from Matt’s experience, and the blithe overstepping on Mr. Burns’s part, that our freedom of speech can be restrained all too easily. We must not allow any authority—in the home, church, government, or the social networking sphere—to curtail our right to express our considered opinions. Silence equals consent, and we must guard free expression as if our very democracy depended on it. Because it does.
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The Censors Are Coming,
Garry
15 Sep 2012Well that’s just fanfuckingtastic. Guess that means we’re next. >.<;
TJ
15 Sep 2012I dunno, but if so, I’m going down swingin’!
Garry
15 Sep 2012Damn right, TJ. AS well you should!
Jean
15 Sep 2012It is darkest just before the dawn of a new day 🙂
Edward
15 Sep 2012Yep. Now I don’t know about the relaibility of the source, But I recently read somewhere that Obama wants to issue an executive order giving the gov’t the right to have access to your internet accounts, activity, FB acct, etc.(I thought Bush had already done that wjth the Patriot Act) IF that’s true, we’re all screwed.
Cheri
15 Sep 2012Holy shit!
Al
15 Sep 2012I may disagree with some or all of my Democratic friends comments or posts, but I will march in the streets with you all, if the government tries to take away our free speech! – Keep us posted!
Gavin
15 Sep 2012The Patriot Act already allows for that. Frankly they are acting like people who are terrified for their very lives.
Garry
15 Sep 2012Well considering I say a great many seditious things on my FB page(because I am -not- satisfied with the way things are being run, and as it is both my patriotic duty and my Right as an American to dissent against my government when it has become as it has), who knows what will happen to me… Frankly I am to the point where I’d rather exile myself and expatriate to somewhere else. Canada, the U.K. or Australia sound like good ideas. Were it so easy to do, I would have already left. -.-
Debbie
15 Sep 2012I’m quite surprised I’ve not gotten censored for having a pot leaf and support badge for the lgbt community as my profile pic. How do we start a campaign?
Piyush
15 Sep 2012freedom of speach must noit be denied how so ever you differ your views with others
Taylor
15 Sep 2012Thats crap what happened to freedom of speech. If it offends you don’t fuckin join. Simple easy
Dora
15 Sep 2012If they ban us here, we’ll just go elsewhere.
David
15 Sep 2012The Extremist Christian Conservatives are becoming FB friends with liberal groups then in mass filing charges against you. One other thing, I have stopped using the word “right” to describe them because it implies they are correct, they are not!
Kirstie
15 Sep 2012I honestly don’t get the point of censoring everything. What happened to the good old days where you simply avoided a page you didn’t like rather than trying to get it shut down?
Kindra
15 Sep 2012What happened to freedomg of speech and expression? As far as I knew those were our constitutional rights…..I’m sorry but I won’t have them taken away from me. If those are gone who knows what else they’ll start taking away from us.
Clyde
15 Sep 2012The christians see every single negitive thing said aginst them as a personal attack to every single one of them. More and more peoe are seeing christians and the churches for what they really are. For the first time in centuries the strangle hold of control over the people is slipping. They know every day they see this control they have over people dwidleing, and they are scrambeling to find a way to keep that control. People see now, and are waking up to how hateful the church is, and all the bad they hide (priest sex abuse). The more peopl see the truth the more they will claw to keep their control. Mark zuckerberg is probly cowtowing to them cause they probly have told him if he does’nt then the church will protest him. See they use terrorist tatics to get what they want.
Muffinzrlife
15 Sep 2012I have my faith in Anonymous. It’s the most faith I will ever have in any organized group.
elmaccoon
16 Sep 2012just checked, and the addicting info facebook page is up and running fine…
Rachel Hockett
16 Sep 2012Addicting Info was never removed from Facebook, only Matt’s profile page and a couple other left-leaning fan pages.