Facebook Apologizes To Black Activist For Censorship
Tech giant Facebook has issued an apology to a Black activist and writer who claims the social media site suspended her account for bringing attention to racism, USA Today reports.
According to the outlet, Ijeoma Oluo’s visit to Cracker Barrel with her two children sparked the controversy. During her visit, she jokingly tweeted “At Cracker Barrel 4 the 1st time. Looking at the sea of white folk in cowboy hats & wondering ‘will they let my black ass walk out of here?'”
Her tweet prompted several racist attacks on both Twitter and Facebook. Twitter swiftly removed the hateful posts and suspended the accounts associated with them, the outlet reports. After Oluo posted images of the derogatory tweets on her Facebook page, her account was suspended.
“I write and speak about race in America because I already see this hate every day,” Oluo wrote, according to USA Today. “It’s the complicity of one of the few platforms that people of color have to speak out about this hate that gets me.”
Facebook issued a statement extending an apology to Oluo; claiming that suspending her account was a mistake and that they are working on ways to maneuver through these “important issues.” According to the outlet, an apology wasn’t enough for Oluo who claims that her online incident wasn’t isolated and that she’s witnessed other Black activists have their accounts suspended for calling out racism.
“The only reason my ban was reversed was because of the outrage it generated, but so many other marginalized people in similar situations are simply forced out,” she said.
The censorship of Blacks has been an ongoing issue on the social platform. USA Today reports that civil rights groups have called out Facebook for being racially biased with their targeting and removing posts and temporarily suspending the accounts of Black activists like Shaun King.
According to the outlet, the social networking site removes thousands of posts that evoke hate each week.
SOURCE: USA Today
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