Democrats view religion and patriotism as “Violent and graphic”

 

An old girlfriend of mine from high school posted a picture on Facebook.  It looked like this:

I found this odd, since my old friend has never posted anything more violent than pictures from her kids’ birthdays.  I wondered if she had changed occupations from “elementary school teacher’s assistant” to “Muslim terrorist,” although this would seem a bit out of character for her.  This is what appeared after I clicked “Learn more”:

So this is what Facebook’s censors labeled as “Violent or graphic content.”

There are various ways you could describe this content.  Patriotic, certainly.  Religious, as well.  But “Violent or graphic”?  On what planet is this violent or graphic?

I cruised around Facebook, and found the same picture behind the same warning screen on the feeds of two other people, so it wasn’t just my old girlfriend.  It’s the picture.  Which Facebook apparently finds to be violent or graphic.

I wonder if the people who work in the censorship department at Facebook worry about this.  I wonder if they wonder when was the last time in history that those who sought to limit free speech turned out to be the good guys.  I wonder if they wonder if perhaps they’re playing with fire, here.

I don’t know if they wonder about those things.  And I suppose it doesn’t matter.  Their actions are what matter.

I just can’t believe that in 2024, in the United States of America, one of our political parties is openly supporting censorship and other limitations on free speech.  We’ve known for years that Democrats didn’t like the Second Amendment.  Now they’re admitting that they don’t like the First Amendment, either.  Absolutely astounding.

Americans should be paying close attention to what is happening here…

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  1. EODmom Coolidge
    EODmom
    @EODmom

    It’s not just the EU and UK. And it’s been happening for 10 years. 

    • #1
  2. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    EODmom (View Comment):

    It’s not just the EU and UK. And it’s been happening for 10 years.

    Yeah, I used to laugh at them.

    I don’t anymore.

    • #2
  3. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    Dr. Bastiat: I just can’t believe that in 2024, in the United States of America, one of our political parties is openly supporting censorship and other limitations on free speech. 

    I can.

    • #3
  4. DonG (CAGW is a Scam) Coolidge
    DonG (CAGW is a Scam)
    @DonG

    EODmom (View Comment):

    It’s not just the EU and UK. And it’s been happening for 10 years.

    where isn’t regime censorship happening?    El Salvador might be the only place.

    Mark Zuckerberg said he regrets all that censorship in 2020,2021, & 2021 and implied he does not want to do it again.  Maybe he implied “don’t make me do it again.”    He will continue to censor, because the State Department/CIA demand it and threaten his business models in Europe and elsewhere (the State Dept. can advocate for or against an business and Europe prefers the privacy of citizens to Meta’s profits with the State Dept so far protecting the profits).  

    • #4
  5. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    It reminds me of a “joke” that was going around a few years ago, how it’s easy to recognize a conservative vs a liberal:  The conservative will be arguing for gun rights, while the liberal will be arguing AGAINST free speech.

    • #5
  6. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Does it limit the Federal Government? Then they are against it.

    • #6
  7. Fractad Coolidge
    Fractad
    @TWert

    Yes, a friend of mine posted the same picture, with the same result. I had to click through TWO warnings to see it. Ridiculous.

    • #7
  8. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    Zuckerberg recently wrote that he regretted his censorship in Facebook.  

    I wonder why he said that?  I wonder why he’s still doing it?

    • #8
  9. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Zuckerberg recently wrote that he regretted his censorship in Facebook.

    I wonder why he said that? I wonder why he’s still doing it?

    HE isn’t censoring anything.

    The ALGORITHMS are!

    • #9
  10. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Zuckerberg recently wrote that he regretted his censorship in Facebook.

    I wonder why he said that? I wonder why he’s still doing it?

    HE isn’t censoring anything.

    The ALGORITHMS are!

    Zuckerberg said that he censored people’s content on Facebook because Democrat leadership told him to do so. 

    I wonder if that’s why he’s censoring patriotic pictures now?  

    • #10
  11. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Zuckerberg recently wrote that he regretted his censorship in Facebook.

    I wonder why he said that? I wonder why he’s still doing it?

    HE isn’t censoring anything.

    The ALGORITHMS are!

    Zuckerberg said that he censored people’s content on Facebook because Democrat leadership told him to do so.

    I wonder if that’s why he’s censoring patriotic pictures now?

    Some of that is probably just automatic, there’s way too much going on for actual people to be checking everything; they probably just “censor” anything like that, which gets a certain number of “reports”/”complaints” from lily-livered leftists.

    • #11
  12. QuietPI Member
    QuietPI
    @Quietpi

    I’ve been wondering what’s going on with Facebook.  I think I’ve posted something of my own maybe once in the last five years,  But Facebook is the only way I keep in touch with quite a few old friends.  Really, that’s about the only reason I haven’t closed my account.  But the last few weeks, I’m unable to view maybe half of those friends’ postings.  I get a message saying that “this content is not available right now.”  Of course in that case I don’t even have a chance to see what my friends posted at all.  Is this happening to anybody else?

    • #12
  13. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    QuietPI (View Comment):
    But the last few weeks, I’m unable to view maybe half of those friends’ postings.  I get a message saying that “this content is not available right now.”  Of course in that case I don’t even have a chance to see what my friends posted at all.  Is this happening to anybody else?

    I’ve also noticed that censorship of Facebook has markedly increased recently. 

    And I’ve noticed that there is a big election coming up. 

    I might think that those two things are related.  Except Zuckerberg recently said that he regrets his censorship during the last election.  So I guess it’s just a coincidence. 

    • #13
  14. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    QuietPI (View Comment):

    I’ve been wondering what’s going on with Facebook. I think I’ve posted something of my own maybe once in the last five years, But Facebook is the only way I keep in touch with quite a few old friends. Really, that’s about the only reason I haven’t closed my account. But the last few weeks, I’m unable to view maybe half of those friends’ postings. I get a message saying that “this content is not available right now.” Of course in that case I don’t even have a chance to see what my friends posted at all. Is this happening to anybody else?

    My understanding is that the most common reason for getting that message, is because the poster made it available only to “friends” or certain other groups, which you apparently don’t belong to.  Maybe you should ask your friends about that.  They may not even be aware of the effect.

    • #14
  15. Steve Fast Member
    Steve Fast
    @SteveFast

    Now this is a violent (but patriotic) eagle:

    • #15
  16. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Steve Fast (View Comment):

    Now this is a violent (but patriotic) eagle:

     

    Reminds me of a scene from a favorite movie:

     

    • #16
  17. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    I’m not on Farcebook nor do I plan to be . . .

    • #17
  18. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    kedavis (View Comment):
    My understanding is that the most common reason for getting that message, is because the poster made it available only to “friends” or certain other groups, which you apparently don’t belong to.

    So if I’m not in a certain group, then whatever they post is labeled “Violent and graphic”?  Why doesn’t Facebook just say that I’m not in that group? 

    What if she posted a picture of kittens in that group?  Would that be labeled “Violent and graphic” as well?

    I’m not arguing with you – I just don’t understand.

    • #18
  19. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):
    What if she posted a picture of kittens in that group?  Would that be labeled “Violent and graphic” as well?

    It should be. Those critters are dangerous. All needle-sharp teeth and micro-claws.

    • #19
  20. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):
    What if she posted a picture of kittens in that group? Would that be labeled “Violent and graphic” as well?

    It should be. Those critters are dangerous. All needle-sharp teeth and micro-claws.

    Good point.  Bad example.

    • #20
  21. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Stop complaining. How could you be against common-sense speech reform?

    • #21
  22. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):
    My understanding is that the most common reason for getting that message, is because the poster made it available only to “friends” or certain other groups, which you apparently don’t belong to.

    So if I’m not in a certain group, then whatever they post is labeled “Violent and graphic”? Why doesn’t Facebook just say that I’m not in that group?

    What if she posted a picture of kittens in that group? Would that be labeled “Violent and graphic” as well?

    I’m not arguing with you – I just don’t understand.

    I was referring to QuietPI’s quoted mention of the message “this content is not available right now.”

    • #22
  23. Bishop Wash Member
    Bishop Wash
    @BishopWash

    My wife was recently put in Zuck jail for couple of days for reposting something critical of Kamala. It had been determined to be lies based on Facebook’s fact checking team. It gave an option to click a link explaining why and it turned out the fact checker for this item was Jonah’s Dispatch site. I remember them lying about prolifers a few years ago. Seems their dirty work has kept them in good graces with Facebook and now they can support Kamala.

    • #23
  24. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Zuckerberg recently wrote that he regretted his censorship in Facebook.

    I wonder why he said that? I wonder why he’s still doing it?

    Facebook has its own Dark State.  

    • #24
  25. Jim George Member
    Jim George
    @JimGeorge

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):
    My understanding is that the most common reason for getting that message, is because the poster made it available only to “friends” or certain other groups, which you apparently don’t belong to.

    So if I’m not in a certain group, then whatever they post is labeled “Violent and graphic”? Why doesn’t Facebook just say that I’m not in that group?

    What if she posted a picture of kittens in that group? Would that be labeled “Violent and graphic” as well?

    I’m not arguing with you – I just don’t understand.

    I was referring to QuietPI’s quoted mention of the message “this content is not available right now.”

    Here’s a little twist on the wierd world of Facebook. I took the liberty, @drbastiat, of “borrowing”, not your text but your idea, and wrote a little post on my personal blog about it and then sent it to Facebook with a note addressed specifically to Mr. Zuckerberg. My blog post can be found here. The note to Mr. Zuckerberg dealt with the hypocrisy of telling the world that he regretted doing all that censoring earlier but that “the government” made him do it and then, as was made clear in the instance you discussed, continuing to ban even patriotic graphics such as the beautiful Eagle in the meme. Very shortly after putting that on Facebook, I got the following lovely note letting me know that my post  had been banned (a badge of honor where I come from!) :

    I got right to work on a response and got as far as writing the title:

    Facebook Censored My Post About Its Censorship of A Patriotic Image! George Orwell, Call Your Office!

    In the interest of full candor (even though I was a trial lawyer most of my working years! :-)   )  I must admit I have decided to refrain from publishing what was going to be a rather pointed message about what Mr. Zuckerberg could do with his censorship machine but thought better of it because I am using Facebook in my efforts to build an educational program here in our area, Tie Tuesday, about which I have posted on Ricochet before. As this is my second ban in a couple of weeks, I decided not to “poke the bear” until I didn’t need it any more! Thank you for your most thoughtful post which shows the utter hypocrisy of these “Controligarchs” as the title of great new book calls them. @bishopwash, I just hope I don’t wind up in Zuck jail, although it’s looking like I’m getting very close to going there!  

    • #25
  26. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    This seems like a good time to suggest that everyone who can afford to do so, sign up for “premium” membership on Twitter/X to help support Elon’s purchase of it.  We shouldn’t want him to regret that.

    • #26
  27. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    Jim George (View Comment):
    The note to Mr. Zuckerberg dealt with the hypocrisy of telling the world that he regretted doing all that censoring earlier but that “the government” made him do it and then, as was made clear in the instance you discussed, continuing to ban even patriotic graphics such as the beautiful Eagle in the meme. Very shortly after putting that on Facebook, I got the following lovely note letting me know that my post  had been banned

    Surely someone in the Facebook Censorship Department bashfully raised a hand at this point and said, “Um, you know, if we censor a post complaining about our censorship, that would look sort of bad.  Is this really a good idea?”

    Surely.

    Although I suppose it would be even MORE remarkable if not one single person there had the self-awareness to consider that perspective.

    Awesome job on the Facebook post, Jim.  Zuckerberg has a billion dollar empire which gives him enormous power.  All us peasants have is rocks.  So I suggest we throw rocks.  What the heck, right?

    • #27
  28. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    kedavis (View Comment):

    This seems like a good time to suggest that everyone who can afford to do so, sign up for “premium” membership on Twitter/X to help support Elon’s purchase of it. We shouldn’t want him to regret that.

    How much does it cost?  

    I am reluctant to add another diversion to my day.  

     

    • #28
  29. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    DaveSchmidt (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    This seems like a good time to suggest that everyone who can afford to do so, sign up for “premium” membership on Twitter/X to help support Elon’s purchase of it. We shouldn’t want him to regret that.

    How much does it cost?

    I am reluctant to add another diversion to my day.

     

    There now appear to be 3 levels, $3/month (or $32/year), $8/month (or $84/year) which gets you sharing ad revenue too if you qualify, and the highest at $16/month (or $168/year).

    More Details:

     

    https://www.pcmag.com/explainers/what-is-x-premium-plus-subscription-how-much

    • #29
  30. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    DaveSchmidt (View Comment):
    I am reluctant to add another diversion to my day.  

    And, nobody says you actually have to use it.  But only $3/month just to support Elon’s efforts towards saving “Our Democracy” seems worthy.

    • #30
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