Avoiding Social Media/Facebook Flagging & Penalizations

 Facebook user reported... me.... for hate speech ?

If people flag you on social media, it penalizes your account and can actually get you banned off the platform. This is dangerous because God haters will use this method to try and get you kicked off the platform, and for certain platforms such as Facebook, that is used by family and friends to stay connected, whereas the other platforms are for other purposes. So today we need to be wise as snakes and harmless as doves (Matt. 10:16). Remembering one earth, we are in enemy territory. 

Contents:

* What Happened

*How to prevent this happening to you

*How to appeal if you have been flagged 

What Happened

So Recently I started using facebook again after a few years off it. So of course I am sharing Christianity and the Gospel with people on facebook.  I am always a person of care, kindness and concern, and want to not only share well, but to do so with the best way I can in the loving spirit that I can. I am not one for spewing hate and so getting flagged was actually a surprise to me. There has not been a single time on Facebook or social media anywhere, (on social media since 2009), where I have ever said hateful things, or said things that were enflaming, inciting, or mean or rude. And everyone who knows me, KNOWS, that is not something I would do. Even acquaintances through family and friends, even if they are not Christian, or hold different Christian or religious views as me. 

The 2 people who reported me did so because they assumed wrongly that I was "victim blaming" for commenting under a video about an incident that happened to a college girl who got drunk at a party and was drugged and raped by a guy who claimed to be gay, and she trusted that what he said was true and that he was not a bad person. He had later been found out to have done this to other women and fled the country and was caught when he came back to the US. 

Those two people jumped to wrong conclusions about what I was saying/sharing from my viewpoint, and trying to educate people about. This is why we need to have Congress pass legislation that people cannot flag, censor or penalize American's using social media if it is just a matter of a different view. It is totally reportable if someone is threatening to physically harm someone or themselves. But not allow something such as someone trying to silence speech they dont like if it is a religious or political belief they dont hold to. 

my dispute reply 

Reply to oversight board

Let us know why you dispute it?

list details here

Why did you post it? 

list details here

Does it have importance in social issue? 

Yes, list the issue it could fall under. If it can fit in another category use that because if it is religious they will not even look at the case. They only care if it is something that fits their progressive agenda. The goal is to kick off people who are not progressive. So wisely respond in this section after thinking it through. This one fell under Women, Cultural, Safety and Religious

Other notes?

Why are people attacking my beliefs? Differing beliefs shouldn't be allowed to be flagged. People need to learn civility, ask clarifying questions, and agree to disagree, and instead are committing a hate crime by reporting on someone wrongfully. By using the flag feature they were committing violence towards me to try to shut me up and kick me off the platform. 

Let Board Know? 

I think fb needs to add area on the thing being flagged, asking the flagger if they clarified with the poster what they meant, and if so,  it is related to a worldview or diff religious view than they hold to. This should stop bad flagged activity, harming innocent people to damage one's standing with facebook. If they respond a certain way to yes no answers, then it automatically tells them to go clarify the matter with the person before reporting them, or in the latter case, to remember that they are in America a country with religious freedom and free speech rights just as you yourself have. 

When I Submitted it...

*The info seems to say that they might not review the dispute?? But if they do they'll let me know. 
Why can't what I dispute be reviewed? Why do they only select SOME to review and rule on? 

Btw, FB claims to have an "independent" review board, and from things we have heard in recent years, it doesnt actually appear to be some other company unrelated to FB. It is likely internal people, or a company affiliated with the parent company, and they claim that for nefarious purposes. 

Final Thoughts

While in a free society and on a social media platform that is designed for people to engage with one another, we should be able to have actual conversations with people without fear of being blocked from communicating and engaging people in conversations.  How can people have conversations around any topic, in a free country, where the slightest thing that someone doesnt like, and the worry that speech will be stiffled or blocked on social media, in a free speech country, causes people to think they cannot freely and without fear of something happening to them or their social media account, be fearful to share something as simple as morality, good advice and Christian faith? The world needs Jesus that's for sure. 

Whoever sees this blog post, regardless of who you are, if you are not a Christian, I would encourage you to watch this short video that explains why Jesus is important.

Mark 16:5 
And then Jesus told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.

2 Timothy 4:2 

preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and self-discipline.

2 Timothy 1:7

What happened with the case?

 

The Oversight Committee refused to take up my case and examine it. 

They didn't even read what I sent them. 

They could have looked at it and responded that well it sort of looks like you are saying 

ABC and ding the flagger for not even ask or clarify for misunderstandings. and asked me to edited the original post for clarity [And i would have lightly adjusted it and posted an offsite blog link to what i wanted to say in freedom]... But the committee nor the system was designed to provide that opportunity.

The whole conversation goal was to push the conversation to the gospel itself.  And it had nothing at all to do with hate speech. But I never had that convo because FB refused to look at the case. 

****

 

How to prevent this from happening to you 

Follow the advice at the Evangelism Resources 

Short version: write everything in a blog post and link the post, and use minimal cautious wording in your social media post on it, or in the comment. Let what you said in the linked post speak for what you want to say. Safely, offsite. 

How to proceed if you are Flagged 

My best advice for anyone who might see they had replies or posts flagged by FB.

1. Do not reply to fb right away. They give you like 10 days or so.. but don't delay it. Do it right away, but after thoughtfully writing things out in a wordprocessor, and use a blog post for additional. 

Because...Once you send it... you *cannot* edit it. SO...

2. 1st write up in a document or notepad the answers to the effect of the sections I noted that they ask you. Note that the last section (what you put there) is going to be the "subject line" that they see, to determine if they want to look at your case. 

Highly recommend you type up something (like what my reply was to the Appeal Committee) as a response for in your phone notes app, but do so in the notes section and then copy and paste it into the text area of the appeal, along with the weblink(*), because if you mistakenly scroll oddly the fb form will kick you out and you have to retype it all over again. Save yourself some pain and time, type it up in notes then paste it into the boxes, toggling between notes and the social media app. 

They also give you a short amt of space to write answers. In planning for section 1, Don't go on and on and on, just get to the facts in the shortest way possible, & they'll read the info on the link you include, and not dismiss and disregard it for the case. 

Hold that info. Then, 

3. Write up a blog post...sort of do a summarized version of what is wrong and about the dispute and clarify misunderstanding, insert all the screenshots, save it and get your "http weblink" and <<INSERT that link into the wordprocessor document<< as your (see more details and screenshots related) proof Exhibit A. State, "I have attached screenshots as proof www.whateverthelinkishere.com/linkwords" as Exhibit A. and note that the person who flagged you should have asked for clarification to ensure no misunderstanding with you before reporting you. 

When done w typing the doc notes. Leave it for a day. Think it over, make any changes b4 u submit it. 

*After you submit it you *cannot* change it. And they force you to respond IN the fb app, you cannot respond on the desktop. So advanced note: make sure if you use a computer to type your notes, or using a cloud service, so you can access the details, and include the blog website link where you created the post/blog for your appeal as Exhibit A, then so you can toggle btwn cloud/email document and fb app to copy and paste the data and link into the app.

4. Then open fb app 

Go to the notifications bell section, scroll to find the oversight appeals notif, and click it. And start the process. 

5. Open Oversight Committee appeal link

toggling between notes and the social media app, (using your phone zones where your open apps reside), as you Copy paste in the 1st section where they want you to plead your case.  And then do so for all sections. 

Remember last section is what will be the subject line. Think about how to "quickly say" what the case is about, "worded well".

6. Once you submit it, if you forgot something, you can at least jump over to the blog post and add clarifying or additional information. It will likely take them a day before they accept to review the case or reject it, but at least you have a way to "oh no, i forgot xyz" and can pop over to the blog and republish it after adjusting it. 

*Keep the doc and the blog till case is over. Decide if you need to use it for TV News, other (Christian) organizations, or through outspoken blogs, in an interview online or blog interview elsewhere who can try to fight for you. 

 

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