Social-Media
Facebook admits it has 'mistakenly' removed hundreds of activist accounts
On 19 September, Facebook deleted the accounts of more than 200 people who had taken part in an event opposing the building of the controversial Coastal GasLink pipeline. The suspension reveals how vulnerable activists are to the actions of social media outlets in the middle of a pandemic, when demonstrating in person is more dangerous than normal.
Indigenous activists protested the creation of a pipeline that would cut through the land of the Wet'suwet'en Nation if it were constructed. Suspensions have put a stop to one of the few forums left where activists can protest while socially distancing themselves from spreading COVID-19.
It left some struggling to connect without a Facebook messenger, and Wet'suwet'en activists have rethinked how effectively they can push back on pipeline developers via social media.
Wet'suwet'en activists and supporters say they could switch potential acts away from Facebook now that they've been scared. They're worried that they're being watched on Facebook for their activism, and they're worried that Facebook will suspend their accounts again.
In May, Wet'suwet'en activists, Greenpeace, and other environmental and indigenous organizations held a Facebook event calling on pipeline opponents to bomb the pipeline's majority funder, KKR & Co Inc., with calls and emails. They had an almost similar event scheduled for September 21st. Then, on September 19, any person with administrative access to the 15 Facebook pages that co-hosted the event received notifications that their accounts will be suspended for up to three days.
Facebook disputes that the profiles of people have been abused solely because of their activism. Our systems have wrongly deleted these accounts and contents. They have since been restored and we have lifted any restrictions on the profiles listed, Facebook said in a September 21 e-mail to The Verge. It did not confirm how many accounts were affected, nor did it confirm why the error occurred.
