Facebook Bans Conservative Author, Claims It Was an 'Error' After Pressure Mounts
Conservative author Raheem Kassam woke up Tuesday morning to a message from Facebook saying that his personal page had been “disabled.”
Kassam told The Western Journal, “I woke up this morning and my account was deleted. Not my actual page itself was deleted, but my personal page had been deleted. So, I couldn’t even administer my fan page anymore.”
For Kassam, a former editor at Breitbart London and the author of the book, “No Go Zones: How Shariah Law is Coming to a Neighborhood Near You,” it was a brutal blow.
What a thing to wake up to. My personal Facebook profile has been deleted, with no warning or explanation. I can no longer administer my fan page, with over 150,000 likes. pic.twitter.com/y9VZo3BEhA
— Raheem Kassam (@RaheemKassam) February 26, 2019
He added that this would have been a “disaster” had he not had another administrator who was able to manage his fan page and get the word out that his personal page had been disabled.
Additionally, Facebook offered no explanation to Kassam as to why his account was disabled.
“I didn’t receive an email,” Kassam said. “There was no flag that said, ‘Hey you’ve broken this term or that term.’”
The conservative author quickly appealed the ban and then started calling on social media influencers to start tweeting about the ban.
President Donald Trump’s, Donald Trump Jr., was one such influencer.
He wrote on Twitter, “I’m sure this was an ‘accident’ like I’ve been hearing from the social media masters. Funny that the accidents only happen one way.”
I’m sure this was an “accident” like I’ve been hearing from the social media masters. Funny that the accidents only happen one way. https://t.co/OTenZwaeCJ
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 26, 2019
And Kassam appreciated the attention.
***UPDATE***
Following this intervention from @DonaldJTrumpJr and others, Facebook has now reinstated my account.
Thank you to Don Jr. and all the others who got so involved and ahead on this story. I’ve no doubt you frightened Facebook into acting.
Raheem https://t.co/mbtBV9Sz4O
— Raheem Kassam (@RaheemKassam) February 26, 2019
In addition to the pressure mounting on social media, CNN contacted Facebook for a comment, Kassam said. That might have been what ultimately led Facebook to start an internal review of the incident, he said.
After the review, Kassam said that Facebook saw that he had done “nothing wrong,” and reinstated his account.
The social media giant told the Kassam the account had been removed “in error.”
Facebook, however, never went into detail with the author about what the error actually was, nor did the company assure him that it wouldn’t happen in the future.
After his account was reinstated, Kassam wrote on Twitter, “How come it is only right wing/conservative accounts that get ‘removed in error’ pending ‘investigations’? And who watchers the watchers in this regard?“
How come it is only right wing/conservative accounts that get “removed in error” pending “investigations”? And who watchers the watchers in this regard? #StopTheBias https://t.co/nxK1uNFyyS
— Raheem Kassam (@RaheemKassam) February 26, 2019
Kassam believes that the ban could have been “algorithmic.”
“Somewhere along the line, they’ve implemented something that knocks off the accounts that say things like I say,” Kassam told The Western Journal.
He adds, “For me, that’s even worse than personally picking on me.”
Kassam, the former chief of staff to Nigel Farage, the former leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party, notes that in addition to his personal ban, UK political activist Tommy Robinson was also banned from Facebook and Instagram.
“The fact that he and I were both removed at the same time makes me think that they’ve plugged something in, as I say whether that’s a human being or it’s an algorithm.”
Additionally, Kassam thinks that the public is due an explanation as to how these types of bans happen. Conservatives have been complaining for years that social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter target the right end of the political spectrum.
“If that were to happen in a physically, public space, where a corporation was shutting down somebody’s speech, everybody would ask questions,” Kassam says.
“For me,” he adds, “it makes no difference whether it’s a digital space or a physical space issue. This is an encroachment on to what you guys know as your First Amendment.”
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