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posted ago by Doggos ago by Doggos +2841 / -5

Meta (Facebook) doesn't like to apply outright blocks on links. Instead, they allow links to be posted, but algorithmically limit their reach in a way which is invisible to most users.

I want to be the clearest I can be: for all their flaws, Facebook's censorship does not typically extend to outright link blocks.

There is only one political website for which Facebook outright blocks links being shared (to my knowledge), across all of its social and messaging platforms… including private conversations with friends on Messenger or WhatsApp.

And that blocked site, is patriots.win.

Facebook does NOT block:

  • 4chan
  • 8kun
  • Gab
  • Banned.video
  • InfoWars
  • Kiwifarms
  • Odysee
  • Gettr
  • Parler
  • Truth Social
  • Rumble
  • DonaldJTrump.com

Appeal

Last year, we tried to overturn the block. We went through several layers of Facebook Support, but we reached the highest level, and they all refused to overturn it.

Legal Route

We looked at the legal route last year, too. We ultimately wanted the ban overturned, but we were at least looking to learn why we were blocked and what steps we could take to be within their rules.

The response was, again, that we would not be unblocked, and that there will be no further information.

In fact, here's the exact response from Facebook’s legal representatives:

My firm represents Meta Platforms, Inc (“Meta”). […] We confirm that the Patriots.Win domain has been banned for violation of Facebook policies and will not be restored. We appreciate your understanding, as this decision is final.

So, what's going on here?

It's not about the .win TLD.

There are plenty of .win domains which aren't blocked, and there's also sites with similarly uncommon TLDs like 8kun(.)top which aren't blocked.

It's not about offensive content.

We certainly aren't the most lenient site on the above list. We aren't even a free speech site; it's literally not possible to be a forum exclusively for MAGA/Trump supporters, and also a free speech site.

Further, the allegation against us when you attempt to send a patriots.win link on a Meta Platform is, "Posts that look like spam according to our Community Guidelines are blocked".

Conclusion

We're at a dead end as far as the Facebook unblock is concerned.

They have stated time and time again that we're blocked for unknown reasons and there's no recourse, but I thought that during this era of social media unbans, it was the right time to bring this issue back up - and ask, why does Facebook only outright block us?