As many of my long time Facebook friends know, I enjoy a Facebook fan page called "Big Butts." It is only one of hundreds of such fan pages on Facebook, and while it may not be everyone's cup of tea, these pages are harmless fun.
Believe it or not, the comments on the page are respectful and appreciative of the women who send in photos. In fact, most of the pictures on the site are shared from other Facebook pages, and are of professional models.
Also, in accordance with Facebook policies, all the photos depict women wearing g-strings, with no frontal nudity, and of course, no sexual acts whatsoever.
There is the age old argument that these type of pages demean women, perpetuate stereotypes, and facilitate oppression. All I will say to these arguments is that all parties involved are consenting adults, and censorship is a slippery slope.
All the ladies in my life - my wife, sisters, mom, daughter-in-law, Facebook friends, sisters-in-law, co-workers - can attest to my deep and abiding love and respect for women, and that they have no advocate more outspoken than me in support of equal rights, legally and culturally.
Unfortunately, in this day and age, any busybody, has the power to prohibit tens of thousands of people from exercising their right to the "pursuit of happiness." Entities such as Comcast, Mediacom, Facebook, and Youtube, wield their delete button like a sledgehammer, and there is no recourse when the blow falls. There is no right to face your accuser, no right to be judged by your peers, no appeal process.
The Big Butts administrators knew that I wrote a blog, and that I am paralyzed from the waist down. I had mentioned to them that the page provided me with a distraction from the constant pain I am in. I was invited to be an admin, which meant that I could answer messages sent to the page and post pictures sent to us by subscribers.
So you can imagine my shock when the following message showed up yesterday in my email and on my personal Facebook page:
Notice of Facebook Feature Restrictions for Big Butts
To Me
Mar 26 at 3:22 AM
Your Page Big Butts has been unpublished for violating Facebook's Terms. If you think your Page was unpublished in error, you can appeal the decision. If your appeal is denied, your Page will be deleted permanently.
This message was sent to xxxxxxx@yahoo.com. If you don't want to receive these emails from Facebook in the future, please unsubscribe. Facebook, Inc., Attention: Department 415, PO Box 10005, Palo Alto, CA 94303
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I went to the page, and sure enough, it had been taken down. Later in the day I received a personal message on Facebook from one of the page owners who said they sent in an appeal, but Facebook would not even respond with what the violation was, let alone where the complaint came from.
Since it was out of my hands, I let it rest, but today I woke up to this message in my email, and when I went to Facebook, this message appeared in the center of my screen, and I had to check a box that said I had read the notice before I could access my Facebook page.
Facebook Warning
To Me
Today at 1:04 AM
Hello,
Your Page "Big Butts" has been removed for violating our Terms of Use. A Facebook Page is a distinct presence used solely for business or promotional purposes. Among other things, Pages that are hateful, threatening or obscene are not allowed. We also take down Pages that attack an individual or group or that are set up by an unauthorised individual. If your Page was removed for any of the above reasons, it will not be reinstated. Continued misuse of Facebook's features could result in the permanent loss of your account.<br><br>If you need further assistance with this issue, please visit http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=page_disabled.
The Facebook Team
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I am selective in who I am friends with on Facebook, and I would hate to think that any of them would say, "It serves him right." There is a bigger issue here. So, okay, they removed this one site. Yes, I can simply go to another page, but I probably would never agree to be an admin again, so already the censorship and surveillance proponents have achieved a small victory. In a war of attrition that's all it takes.
We Like Big Butts and We Can Not Lie
(Big Butts profile pic and motto)
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