- The Washington Times - Sunday, July 4, 2021

Facebook came under fire Sunday for blocking the hashtag “revolution” on the Fourth of July, a federal holiday celebrating the passage of the Declaration of Independence during the American Revolution.

Sharp-eyed social-media mavens noticed starting Friday that Facebook searches for “#revolution” were met with a “Keeping Our Community Safe” notification with an image of a locked page and the message, “Posts with revolution are temporarily hidden here.”

“Some content in those posts goes against our Community Standards,” said the message, which included a link to the standards page.

Facebook bars a host of content that violates its community standards under categories that include “Violence and Incitement,” “Sexual Solicitation” and “False News,” but the tech platform did not explain online why “#revolution” had been canceled.

The block was still in effect Sunday, prompting plenty of commentary from critics about the decision to prohibit the hashtag on a weekend dedicated to commemorating the American Revolution.

“Welcome to the re-education of America on Independence Day weekend,” tweeted Rep. Thomas Massie, Kentucky Republican.

Rep. Madison Cawthorn, North Carolina Republican, tweeted that “#BigTech is at it again, prohibiting Americans from commemorating our independence from a tyrannical government.”

“They don’t want to teach history because it is repeating itself,” said Mr. Cawthorn. “Wake up, America.”

The Washington Times has reached out to Facebook for comment. 

 

• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.

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