Facebook bans anti-lockdown posts and groups

Facebook is banning posts and groups promoting anti-lockdown protests that don’t comply with US government health restrictions.

A woman holds out a sign calling for California to open as hundreds of people gather to protest the lockdown in spite of shelter-in-place rules still being in effect at California's state capitol building in Sacramento. Picture: AFP.

Facebook is banning posts and groups promoting anti-lockdown protests that don’t comply with US government health restrictions, as organizers of those events seek to recruit new members on social media.

Dozens of protests have taken place in recent days, with participants complaining of shelter-in-place restrictions and pushing for state governments to allow more freedom to return to normal activities. Most of the events have been relatively small, but have drawn outside attention on social media as the debate about when and how to reopen the economy becomes increasingly political.

Facebook groups, some with tens of thousands of members and some using near-identical language in their descriptions, have popped up in states like Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania. The groups raise concerns about what they see as overly restrictive orders imposed by state governors.

Polls show most Americans worry more about inflaming the coronavirus pandemic by reopening the country too soon as opposed to the economic impact of waiting too long.

Facebook’s prohibition doesn’t explicitly target posts promoting anti-lockdown protests; rather the company said it is barring content that advocates for in-person gatherings that don’t follow government health guidance. A spokeswoman for the social media giant said it is also taking down claims designed to discourage treatment for coronavirus infection or taking appropriate precautions against its spread.

Facebook removed content related to anti-lockdown protests planned in California, New Jersey and Nebraska.

“Unless government prohibits the event during this time, we allow it to be organised on Facebook,” the spokeswoman said in a statement. “For this same reason, events that defy government’s guidance on social distancing aren’t allowed on Facebook.”

Michigan has emerged as the epicentre of the protests, with critics focusing their frustration on the state’s Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, who has imposed some of the most stringent coronavirus restrictions in the country.

Ms. Whitmer has put in place measures limiting the number of shoppers in stores and closing off some sections of stores, including those for gardening supplies, a move that prompted condemnation from the state’s greenhouse industry.

A man holds out a Trump bumper sticker as hundreds of people gather to protest the lockdown despite shelter-in-place rules still being in effect in California. Picture: AFP

Two right-leaning groups — the Michigan Conservative Coalition and the Michigan Freedom Fund — created a Facebook event called “Operation Gridlock” to protest the state’s restrictions. The April 15 event in Lansing, Michigan, drew more than 3,000 protesters, many in cars to bring traffic to a standstill. Some participants left their cars and huddled in groups in violation of social-distancing rules.

Facebook’s decision to ban content that promotes events that risk defying health restrictions is part of a series of moves it has made to limit the spread of what it sees as misinformation and harmful content related to the pandemic.

Some of the content also attempts to erode trust in public-health authorities, who say social distancing rules have slowed the spread of the virus and reduced the number of deaths attributable to it.

The move again injects Facebook into an increasingly polarised national debate. While some governors have asked protesters to stay home, President Donald Trump expressed his support for their actions in tweets over the weekend The president’s son on Monday criticised Facebook’s move.

“Why is Facebook colluding with state governments to quash peoples [sic] free speech?” Donald Trump Jr. posted to Twitter.

“Regardless of what you think about the lockdowns or the protests against them, this is a chilling.”

The protest in Lansing last week was organised by the Michigan Conservative Coalition. The group was founded by Michigan State Rep. Matt Maddock and his wife, Meshawn Maddock. The Maddocks didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The gathering also received backing from the Michigan Freedom Fund, a conservative group started by Greg McNeilly, a political adviser to the DeVos family. In an interview, Mr. McNeilly said his group wasn’t the main organiser of the event, but paid for $250 worth of Facebook advertising for it.

Mr. McNeilly said nobody in the DeVos family, including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, backed the protest. He said the organizers of the protests repeatedly stressed that people should remain in their vehicles so as not to violate social-distancing rules, adding that the majority of people complied.

In the aftermath of the Michigan protests, similar “Operation Gridlock” events have been organised in other cities.

Ben Dorr, a pro-gun activist who is the executive director of the group Minnesota Gun Rights, launched a Facebook group last week called “Minnesotans Against Excessive Quarantine,” later renamed “Reopen Minnesota.” He then created a similar group in Wisconsin, and his brothers, also pro-gun activists, established groups in other states. The Washington Post first reported their involvement.

“People’s livelihoods are being annihilated,” Mr. Dorr said in an interview. Critics of the states’ restrictions don’t want their lives to be “dictated unilaterally by governors,” he said.

Mr. Dorr said his Facebook groups aren’t being funded by outside organisations, and people are volunteering their time. “It’s 100% organic. We don’t have to pay anybody,” he said.

Mr. Dorr is organising a protest in Madison, Wis., later this week. He remained hopeful that Facebook wouldn’t shut down his groups, stressing that he isn’t encouraging people to break social-distancing rules during the event. “The rallies are drive-in rallies allowing for social distancing,” he said.

Nearly six in 10 people surveyed in a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll said they were concerned that the country would move too fast to loosen restrictions aimed at slowing the outbreak, compared with about three in 10 who said the greater worry was the economic impact of waiting too long.

The Wall Street Journal