Facebook’s pattern of censorship has again become evident during a crucial election period, as it repeatedly targets posts from the Buckeye Firearms Association, an advocate for Second Amendment rights. The organization, which educates the public about gun-related issues and promotes gun rights, has noted that none of its content breaches Facebook’s community standards. Yet, their posts are often removed without justification.
The Buckeye Firearms Association emphasizes that its posts are carefully crafted to inform rather than inundate followers with irrelevant content. Despite their intentionality and adherence to Facebook’s guidelines, their experience with the platform has deteriorated recently. Previously, when posts were erroneously removed, Facebook would restore them following a review and issue an apology. However, this process has stalled; now, the organization’s requests for review go unanswered.
The issue has been particularly noticeable with posts such as those on June 26 criticizing the Surgeon General’s declaration of a “public health crisis” as politically motivated, or the October 2nd post about a Florida city’s illegal firearm and ammunition sales ban during a state of emergency. Other posts, including one on September 18 about a presidential assassin who violated gun laws, and an October 10 encouragement to vote against a problematic constitutional amendment (Issue 1), have also been flagged and removed.
Facebook claims to enforce its community standards globally and uniformly, as explained in their “How we made this decision” notifications which state: “Our technology found your content doesn’t follow our Community Standards. As a result, our technology took action. We use the same rules around the world for everyone. Our technology and teams work in many languages to ensure our rules are applied consistently.” However, according to the group, this assertion is challenged by the frequent and unexplained removals of the Association’s content.
The inconsistency in enforcement extends beyond the removal of posts opposing Issue 1—a proposed amendment that would engrain gerrymandering into Ohio’s constitution, longer than both the state and US Constitutions combined. While the Buckeye Firearms Association’s anti-Issue 1 posts are quickly taken down, the group says posts favoring the amendment often remain untouched.
