I suppose I am a bit freewheeling on social media. I never think anything I post is of such an offensive nature such that I should catch a restriction. But I’m on my second strike at Facebook over some bullshit.
The first one was an honest mistake. Like many people, I like to share music on my page and in groups. One day, I was inspired to post some Pixies from Surfer Rosa. It did NOT occur to me at all to be mindful of the cover:
Those teeny tiny tits got IMMEDIATELY noticed and bam, I was in content moderation for weeks in the group I posted it in. I ended up leaving the group because I had to say pretty please to the admin to approve my content thereafter.
I hope WordPress is a little more forgiving and is not considering this pornography. I certainly don’t. That’s more in the realm of art.
Anyway, time passes and I’m still my usual self, cussing and tussling and no one really giving a damn. Then a friend posted a picture of some mosque in Iran:
My simple answer was, “This makes me crave psychedelics”.
That comment sat there a whole week before it got deleted and I caught a ban for posting it. Reason given? That I was violating their standards on the exchange of illicit drugs. That is not what I said at all. I merely said it would be cool to trip my shit in that place. Looking further into Facebook’s community standards, you are not allowed to post anything about illegal substances unless you are seeking help to get treatment for using them.
By the time I had found that last part out, I had already disagreed with their decision. I did not do any of the things I was originally told I was being restricted for. So I was incommunicado for about 24 hours on Facebook.
Here’s what really rubs me the wrong way about Facebook’s community standards. Go try clicking on an ad for CBD sometime. It will not be long before your ad feed is inundated with legal ways to get high. Delta-8. HHC. Links to ibogaine treatment. Suggestions that you should microdose legal mushrooms (microdose being a word that only people who have toyed with drugs would know). And now they’re advertising Delta-9, which, while derived from hemp, is the exact psychoactive substance found in marijuana buds. And many of these ads say you can get a good “high” from them. They even sell books that they explicitly say you should use while you are high, and t-shirts that glorify drugs.
What I am saying, is that Facebook has a total double standard when it comes to getting altered. I can’t say anything, no matter how vague, about a drug that is illegal (which I really didn’t do). But they are free to market to you all sorts of ways to get fucked up that don’t break the law and they heavily promote their use.
I mean yes, I get it-no company wants the DEA to breathe down their neck. But I still don’t think what I said should have gotten me a ban. I don’t know what overzealous geek took notice of that after it had been there for several days, but I think it was an misapplication of the community standards, especially when the damn community hypocritically endorses getting wasted within legal bounds.