Facebook Censorship

I just posted this as a note on the Sunshine State Sarah Facebook page:

Hello friends,

It seems like Doug Guetzloe or one of his little minions has reported me to Facebook.  They have removed one of my notes about Guetzloe (which was just a copy of a post from my blog), saying that it violated their terms of service, prohibiting notes that are "hateful, threatening, or obscene" or notes "that attack an individual or a group."  The highlight of the email was the ominous warning that "Continued misuse of Facebook's features could result in your account being disabled." 

Who knew?  Apparently you are not allowed to write a note that says anything mean or critical about anyone else.  So that means that all the political candidates' pages need to come down right now if they are talking about why they are better than their opponents.  And that post you wrote last week complaining about the idiot who cut you off in traffic or the waiter who gave you bad service?  Not allowed.  Anyone who has written that the Democrats or Republicans are corrupt or liars?   Verboten. 

There is some seriously bizarre selective enforcement going on here. 

The note in question that FB removed did NOT say anything obscene, and made no threats, and in my opinion, was nowhere close to hateful.  I have been covering the activities of Doug Guetzloe, Fred O'Neal, Peg Dunmire, their attempts to hijack the tea party movement through their third party "Florida Tea Party," and their connections to Alan Grayson.  I provide links to local news articles and court records to back up my points.  Discussing local news and political topics should not be viewed as an "attack." 

I'm not so naive as to claim this is a First Amendment issue.  Facebook is NOT the government, it's a private company whose services I'm using voluntarily, so the state is not infringing on my right to free speech.  However, if this is truly Facebook's policy and how they are going to enforce it, then I am seriously wondering if it's possible to have any political discussions on this site at all.

I have said all along, that if I am on Doug Guetzloe's enemies list, then I am doing something right.  I find it highly ironic that the Guetzloe Goonies are reporting me to FB for telling the truth about him, at the same time as they are engaging in attempts to spread malicious lies about me.  Guetzloe himself has emailed my clients, telling them I am under ethics investigation with the Florida Bar (not true - I even called to check to see if Guetzloe had filed a complaint against me) and he has emailed political candidates I work for telling them to fire me. 

Guetzloe and his supporters have also posted libelous and false things about me on the Sentinel blogs and on his Ax the Tax message boards, and elsewhere on the internet.  There is something seriously creepy going on when an overweight middle aged guy is constantly attacking a young woman by calling her a slut.  That's the go-to insult for anyone without a real argument, isn't it?  Can't argue with me on the facts and issues, so just lie and tell people I'm sleeping around?  The reality is far less interesting...I'm a single girl with a cat [insert easy joke here].  ;)

Anyway, I have turned off the automatic posting of my blog posts to this FB page.  I will post links here to the main blog page instead, so you'll still know when something new is posted. 

Thank you all for your support.

Sarah Elizabeth Rumpf

Selected Lyrics from "I Won't Back Down" - Tom Petty

Well I won't back down, no I won't back down
You could stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down

Gonna stand my ground, won't be turned around
And I'll keep this world from draggin' me down
Gonna stand my ground and I won't back down

Well I know what's right, I got just one life
In a world that keeps on pushin' me around
But I'll stand my ground and I won't back down