Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
This week, Facebook’s parent company announced it had restored the account of a conservative publishing company that had been disabled two days before Christmas for alleged violations of the social media giant’s policies.
The move came after weeks of outcry from ordinary Americans and conservative politicians following the banning of Heroes of Liberty, a company that has created children’s history books about the likes of Ronald Reagan, John Wayne, and Thomas Sowell.
When conservatives start independent publishing outlets and platforms, #BigTech companies like Facebook now work to destroy them. This latest example is particularly galling. https://t.co/EkT41avNII
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 3, 2022
According to a report from Fox Business, a spokesperson for Meta said the account was “disabled in error and has been restored.”
On its Twitter account, Heroes of Liberty turned the news into a promotional opportunity.
The last two weeks were challenging, and we want to thank the thousands of Americans who stood up for us.
Celebrate the end of the "error" with a limited offer for the first 100 subscribers. Use coupon: ZUCKERBERG for a 10% off on our subscription plans>> https://t.co/o8B2XRxPuH pic.twitter.com/KNQt2iqGlM
— Heroes Of Liberty (@HeroesOfLiberty) January 4, 2022
Per the Fox Business report, on Dec. 23, Heroes of Liberty received a message from Facebook that read, “This ad account, its ads and some of its advertising assets are disabled because it didn’t comply with our policy on Low Quality or Disruptive Content.”
Following an appeal for reinstatement by Heroes of Liberty, Facebook sent a follow-up message that read, “After a final review of this ad account, we confirmed it didn’t comply with our Advertising Policies or other standards. You can no longer advertise with this ad account and its ads and assets will remain disabled. This is our final decision.”
In keeping with social media tradition – YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and others have a well-documented history of banning content creators, even those who would be accurately classed as apolitical, without explanation – the company has at no point offered details as to what Heroes of Liberty did wrong, what error occurred that caused the account to be suspended, or what additional error caused the suspension to be upheld upon review.
“Disclaimer: bullying won’t stop us from producing great books about Heroes of Liberty,” the publisher tweeted in part on Jan. 3, the same day its account was restored.
The company is now demanding answers as to why it was banned in the first place. Bethany Mandel, editor of Heroes of Liberty and a member of the company’s board, told Fox News the company deserved a more specific answer and should have been communicated with more proactively.
“They never told us anything,” Mandel said. “Then fast-forward to [Jan. 3]. They told multiple members of Congress that we were reinstated, but they’ve never actually contacted us directly. So we see our ad account is back enabled. But we have no idea if we’re on probation or if it was in fact an error.”
As of this writing, the Heroes of Liberty Facebook page remains active and contains a robust post in which the company recounts its recent social media strife.