Former Republican presidential contender Ron Paul said Monday he was the latest Republican victim of the social-media purges despite not having advocated political violence or insurrection.
Mr. Paul, a former U.S. House member from Texas, posted a screenshot to Twitter showing that his access to his Facebook page had been blocked.
The libertarian icon and the father of Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said he was given “no explanation other than ‘repeatedly going against our community standards.’”
With no explanation other than “repeatedly going against our community standards,” @Facebook has blocked me from managing my page. Never have we received notice of violating community standards in the past and nowhere is the offending post identified. pic.twitter.com/EdMyW9gufa
— Ron Paul (@RonPaul) January 11, 2021
Mr. Paul said he found that unconvincing.
“Never have we received notice of violating community standards in the past and nowhere is the offending post identified,” he added.
The Paul Facebook page itself was still available Monday evening and outsiders could still comment and share, though Mr. Paul cannot post, alter his posts, or edit his page in other ways.
The banning comes in the context of Silicon Valley tech giants booting President Trump and masses of his followers and, among other things, trying to strangle alternative social-media sites such as Parler.
Mr. Paul added in another tweet that “the only thing we posted to Facebook today was my weekly ’Texas Straight Talk’ column, which I have published every week since 1976.”
The only thing we posted to Facebook today was my weekly “Texas Straight Talk” column, which I have published every week since 1976.
— Ron Paul (@RonPaul) January 11, 2021
According to a report at the Foundation for Education Education, the column did not call for attacks on the U.S. Capitol as President Trump did, though Mr. Paul did express skepticism that the president, whom he regularly criticizes in terms much harsher than his senator son has, had done so.
“The justifications given for the silencing of wide swaths of public opinion made no sense and the process was anything but transparent. Nowhere in President Trump’s two ‘offending’ Tweets, for example, was a call for violence expressed explicitly or implicitly. It was a classic example of sentence first, verdict later,” Mr. Paul wrote in the column.
The Foundation added that “by suspending Ron Paul, it becomes clear that ’safety’ may not be Big Tech’s primary goal.”
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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