Facebook censors BFA posts but suggests we respond to leftists' posts
It appears that Facebook is at it again in another hot election season. They repeatedly remove our posts, which do not violate any community standards, and then actually alert us to respond to posts by progressive pages and profiles.
Buckeye Firearms Association is a grassroots pro-Second Amendment organization that advocates for the protection and advancement of gun rights and that educates the general public about firearms and actions related to firearms. We don't post spam. Our posts are very intentional, as we aim to inform.
Over the past couple of years, a post would occasionally get taken down. We'd ask for a review, and Facebook would apologize and reinstate it. That changed as soon as the election season started to heat up. We have asked for a review of every one and don't even get a response — ever.
Facebook's removal
Here are a few of our posts the social-media "platform" has taken issue with:
June 26: Surgeon general's 'public health crisis' nothing but election year politics
Sept. 18: Latest would-be presidential assassin violated multiple gun laws
Oct. 10: Gun owners strongly urged to vote NO on Issue 1
Oct. 15: Shocking Video: How dark-money leftists plan to seize control of Ohio elections forever
According to Facebook's "How we made this decision" statement, "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 make sure our rules are applied consistently."
Two problems: One, our content did not violate any Meta standards. Two, "same rules ... for everyone" and "applied consistently" are laughable.
Facebook's hypocrisy
Case in point, Facebook has sent our page notifications to respond to progressive groups and profiles that we don't even follow. Here are a few recent examples:
Aug. 14: Occupy Democrats' "Totally DEPLORABLE!" post chastising former President Donald Trump. An image on the post includes this text: "Pass this on to make sure all Americans see this and know we cannot go back to a world of Trump." In fact, Facebook tried twice to get us to respond to that one.
Not dated: Occupy Democrats' "Tim Walz did NOT hold back!" post featuring a Reels video claiming "Tim Walz wrecks Trump's campaign."
Oct. 7: Gayety's "If politics doesn't work out, OF is always an option." post featuring a photo of a Republican congressman and this text: "Leaked videos of anti-LGBTQ Rep. Matt Gawthorn riding another man resurface online."
Buckeye Firearms Association is firmly against state Issue 1, the constitutional amendment that is longer than the state and U.S. Constitutions combined and that literally would write gerrymandering into the Ohio Constitution. We have made it clear why Issue 1 is bad for gun owners — and for all freedom-minded Ohioans, for that matter.
While Facebook rushes to remove our posts advocating against Issue 1, it has no problem keeping others in place that support it. To be fair, I've also seen some posts against it survive. I'm not sure why that is, but maybe the "community standards" algorithms have become hypersensitive to our content and are paying closer attention now. Who knows?
That raises another question: Is Facebook a platform or publisher? The social-media giant apparently wants it both ways but risks government regulations by censoring free speech and meddling in elections.
Meanwhile, follow us at @BuckeyeFirearms on X (formerly Twitter), where free speech is once again celebrated.
Joe D. "Buck" Ruth, a longtime small-game hunter and gun owner who spent nearly three decades in the news industry, is the website and social-media manager for Buckeye Firearms Association.
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