Health & Fitness
Facebook goes SOPA on me and shuts down my account
Facebook shuts down local Congressional Campaign for getting too many friends too fast. My account was shutdown for apparently being too popular.
For those of you that haven't kept up on the proposed SOPA and PIPA bills that would grant content holders to shut down websites without due process, please pay attention or free speech on the web may be a thing of the past.
While Facebook is a private entity and I'm big on property rights, they have stepped across the line by shutting down my Facebook account.
Apparently, Facebook has an unwritten policy that you can't friend request anybody you don't already know personally. I have been friend requesting only those people that are friends with dozens and in many cases hundreds of my existing friends.
Find out what's happening in Germantownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Facebook does not make any mention of this policy until they deem you have abused it. If fact Facebook neither mention this policy in their community guidelines nor their rules page. In fact they inform all users through their privacy settings and their guidelines that by default everyone can send you a friends request. User can limit friend requests to friends of friends.
In any case I have followed the disclosed guidelines and rules.
Find out what's happening in Germantownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Facebook and other social media provide a means to eliminate the influence money has in our elections. Leveling the field to who has the best ideas not who has the most money.
Facebook has recently hired over 20 lobbyists and formed a PAC to use their billions in new IPO money to buy elections. So they have a vested interest in limit free speech on their site.
While private entities normally have no obligation to provide free speech or free association, a social network does. Facebook has entered into a binding contract with their users to provide an open community in exchange for the right to monetize the pages of their users.
Facebook receives consideration in billions of dollars and hence can not breach it obligation to provide the public square it promises. More so since Facebook no has a defacto monopoly on our public square they should be held more accountable to the principals of free speech and free association.
PS. Nearly all my friend requests have been confirmed.
peterjames2012.com