It came to our attention yesterday when we were sharing WUWT articles, that Facebook now treats WUWT articles as “abusive”. Apparently this is a new tactic of the warmists to abuse the FB abuse process in order to suppress free speech. WUWT readers have reported that this has also started happening on other skeptic blogs with their articles.
Until Anthony gets back, when we can see about a more permanent solution, we want to encourage our readers to all share WUWT articles via your Facebook accounts, and when FB gives you “this is an abusive site” pop-up, as seen in the graphic above, to click the “Let us know” appeal link to submit an appeal. Hopefully if FB staff start seeing enough appeals from enough of our readers, that they will realize that their system is being gamed by our opponents.
While on FB, we encourage you to join the WUWT FB group.
UPDATE: As of this moment, new WUWT articles are posting to FB without the abuse warning, but anything from yesterday or days prior is getting the warning and requires an appeal. Apparently whoever has been up to these games hasn’t gotten online yet today. We still encourage our readers to help ensure that WUWT articles are able to be shared on FB without interference, and to ensure that other skeptic blogs are also able to be published on Facebook. It’s clear that the warmists are engaging in guerrilla tactics now.
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This is a very worrying trend. I do hope you have all this material backed up independently Anthony, just in case they get to the the WordPress folks :-)?
Maybe this community should consider making a documentary, which includes all the Steve McIntyre forensics, and as much factual material summarised from the relative scientific papers, IPCC reports and NIPPC material to tell the story. Actors could be used quoting various quotable quotes from some of the main players (not to be named at this stage ;-).
And possibly the movie should end with Anthony Watts and his moderators being awarded a Nobel Prize! I reckon it would go viral off uTube LOL.
When I was in school I was taught that the first thing oppressive governments, dictators and socialist regimes did was to stop Freedom of the Press. This is an extremely important right that people have died for and is the basis of every free and democratic society. To think it is happening here in Australia in 2011 is mind boggling. I think even Wikileaks wouldn’t expect this from Facebook!!
First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win — Mahatma Ghandi.
It seems ‘THEY’ are at the third stage now. It is getting very dirty and will probably get dirtier. However, it seems Ghandi was spot on with his statement. We were ignored and we were ridiculed. These tactics didn’t work, and now they are fighting.
I just wonder how long it will take until the fourth stage is reached.
These links on Facebook will be like this because of the report function…if people keep reporting a link as spam it automatically does this. So this is nothing to with facebook themselves censoring…..just troll lurkers deliberately trying to cause your posts/pages/links problems.
“They have no scruples, but, please, sceptics, let’s not sink to their level. We need to stick to the facts and debate respectfully in order for our arguments to be heard.”
Rats, I was all ready to make a complaint about RC, which is the most abusive site I’ve ever has the misfortune to visit. I asked GS if the GISS data set was accurate, why was Dr John Theon, Hansen’s ex-supervisor at NASA quoted as saying:
“Furthermore, some scientists have manipulated the observed data to justify their model results. In doing so, they neither explain what they have modified in the observations, nor explain how they did it.”
You would have thought I launched a rocket up someone’s backside. My post disappeared, but the replies came fast and furious. It was only because of the replies that I knew my posting had been received. I was about to post it again. Maybe other readers will have more success. It seems like the sort of questions that needs to be answered.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/28/nasa_climate_theon/
Not on Facebook nor am I a friend to anyone’s account. As a teacher, I stay away from all such internet services. That includes Twitter and any of the other networks. That said, I am very proud of what I have posted here in comments and am not the least bit worried if they show up elsewhere. Because it is so public, I understand the ramifications of showing up as a dolt.
Did Facebook decide it’s abusive, or did a bunch of climate change fanatics click “report abuse” in order to get the content blocked? My best guess is nobody at Facebook made a decision to block the content but it was done automatically because of user-complaints from the fanatics.
Severian says: April 9, 2011 at 8:43 am
This, the complaints and legal actions against Delingpole and Dr. Ball, make no mistake, this is the new front in the climate wars.
Severian, I see this very differently. When the climategate team were riding the wave of public accolade do you think they had time to bother about us sceptics? No!
Now however, as they sit at their desks remembering the good old days, wondering how such a simple thing as a few emails could have changed so much … waiting for someone – anyone – to call/write/email, even having time to read the sceptics … they have time to reflect and blame their own fall on anyone but themselves.
Posted this to FB from link above with no problem.
No blocks here either. Some people seem to be getting a little paranoid.
Galane says:
April 10, 2011 at 3:46 am
“Ghandi’s tactics only work when your oppressor *isn’t* willing to take things to the extreme point of just exterminating anyone who won’t bow down and obey.”
I take your point, but, fortunately this is still Britain, not China or Iran. And although our government is still taking notice of the AGWers, I do feel that the sort of people who frequent this site and others like it are taking the battle in the right direction.
I am quite certain we will prevail although it will be a hard fought battle. This business with Facebook is being nipped in the bud, James Delingpole has triumphed, and I am looking forward to Tim Ball’s legal defence against Michael Mann.
The main advantage we seem to have against these people is that they don’t seem to be terribly bright, despite their educational qualifications.
It’s interesting to see another example of how particular interest groups attempt to close down the new media to groups they don’t agree with. Recently, as a result of pressure from a small group of people, Apple rejected an app which came from a group which supported the traditional Christo-Judaic view of marriage. Later, again as a result of pressure, they rejected an app from a group which gives help to people who want to give up their homosexual lifesyle.
In case there’s anybody who thinks that this has got nothing to do with them I refer you to the famous statement made by Pastor Martin Niemoeller, a German who opposed the Nazis:
First They came… – Pastor Martin Niemoeller
First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
:
What was Facebook’s energy consumption in 2008?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15168231@N00/2959546490/lightbox/
In September last year Greenpeace demanded of Facebook that they, “Advocate for strong climate and energy policy changes at the local, national and international level to ensure that as the IT industry’s energy demand increases, so does the supply of renewable energy…”
The letter from Greenpeace’s Executive Director to Mark Zuckerberg concludes:
“It is with the interest of your company, your millions of users, and our planet in mind that I urge you to exercise bold and immediate leadership in addressing climate change. I invite you to engage with me in dialogue regarding these points, as I am sure that with further discussion regarding your company’s environmental goals and growth plans, we will be able to reach common ground. I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Kumi Naidoo
Executive Director
Greenpeace International”
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/Cool-IT/executive-director-of-greenpeace-to-ceo-of-fa/blog/26324
Surely this would not include Facebook creating a bias against WUWT and similar blogs expressing a view different from that of Greenpeace? Some might call that censorship.
SBVOR (April 9, 2011 at 5:29 pm),
I agree with you, and it’s an important point, but I think your last line is inaccurately formulated. There is really no such thing as one right trumping another; rights, properly defined, do not confict.
The owner of private property has the right — incorrect judicial decisions to the contrary notwithstanding — to order anyone off his property for any reason, and, therefore, to impose conditions for permission to stay, including the condition of not speaking, or not expressing certain ideas. The right of freedom of speech means one may express one’s ideas on one’s own property, or on public property, not on someone else’s property. So in the situation at issue, the right of freedom of speech is neither being violated nor trumped.
SBVOR and biff33: Research the term “public accommodation law” and “public right of way”. Don’t know if you are familliar with company owned towns, but there are still public rights of way in company owned towns, and the company that owns the town has no legal right to interfere with members of the public using the rights of way and exercising their rights on them.
Sean Houlihane says:
April 10, 2011 at 12:36 pm (Edit)
“No blocks here either. Some people seem to be getting a little paranoid.”
No, Sean, as previously stated several times, when we appeal a block on one article, FB authorizes the URL for that one article, so all subsequent shares by readers of that one article go through, but each day, all new articles get blocked and we have to go through the appeals process on each one. This is not paranoia, the graphic on this article was not made up.
SBVOR says:
April 9, 2011 at 5:04 pm
“For the average Leftist, their entire identity is defined by their political ideology. And, their political ideology is best described as a totalitarian, political religious ideology. But, even that falls short of the mark (because we are really talking about a totalitarian, political religious cult). This religious cult mentality means that their entire “moral compass” (such as it is) is defined by the tenets of this totalitarian political religious cult.”
Yep. Captures academia perfectly. If you so much as deviate from their preferred terminology, they experience serious anxiety.
mikelorrey: I am not a lawyer, but my point is that the whole concept of “public accomodation,” in its legal sense, is irrational. It amounts to the idea that by exercising your property rights — letting people in — you lose your property rights. In my view, laws upholding that concept are immoral.
It’s blocked at FB. Can’t post this.
We should all try to keep up with the times and technology, and try to say something positive about facebook. So I will say, it’s true that the substance of the posts and discussions are somewhat lacking, but at least the time is lost in a black hole forever.
Just a quick comment about Facebook.
If an article or site is reported as abusive enough times it is put on hold until a human can check out the validity of the report. Yesterday some diehard warmist’s had obviously decided to do just that.
Today it has been sorted out. Tomorrow it may happen again. As long as it does get sorted satisfactorily then I am happy, but if it does not then that is the time to worry.
Facebook may not be everyone’s cuppa but it does get the sceptics side out there to the public. Without it many in our group would have still been believers in the dogma that is AGW.
My Father, who was a habitual autonomous learner throughout his life, refused to be connected to the Internet. He read numerous books and used his computer to write down his thoughts in word documents; extremely interesting to read after his passing but then we already knew his theories. How good would it have been for him to have been able to share these with other like minded people?
Making ‘friends’ on Facebook is actually about sharing common interests; without Facebook many people wouldn’t even have heard of WUWT!
Please don’t dismiss it as purely a friend making lonely hearts site, for some it may be, but for others it is playing an important roll in information sharing, something that I would have thought would be applauded considering the problems we have with FOI requests :o)
if it’s any consolation, my decidedly warmist blog posts are also being blocked regularly over the last 5 days or so.
http://www.greenmanstudio.com/images/blocked.jpg
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Colin in Mission BC says:
April 9, 2011 at 11:13 am
Why is it that seemingly all of the massive tech companies (e.g. Facebook, Google), always seem to heavily lean towards the Kool-Aid Drinking section of CAGW?
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The computer (non) sciences were some of the first engineering programs to introduce wide scale Marxist indoctrination as part of the curriculum. This started in the late 60s. Today, the first chapter in any CS text will involve a discussion on “Social Responsibility”. I work as a software engineer, almost all of my co-workers are lefties. Their heads are filled with all sorts of self-contradictory nonsense it is scary. It is getting so bad, that the faulty thought process needed to produce a socialist are starting to impact the code they produce. The only software engineers that I know who have not been brainwashed are aspies like me. And if things are bad for the Computer Sciences, the are far worse for things such as Wildlife Biology.
Well FB is at it again blocking WUWT link sharing. Extreme warmistas have been at it again…
jasmr says:
Maybe this community should consider making a documentary, which includes all the Steve McIntyre forensics, and as much factual material summarised from the relative scientific papers, IPCC reports and NIPPC material to tell the story. Actors could be used quoting various quotable quotes from some of the main players (not to be named at this stage ;-).
A bit OT but since you said this, I’ll put it out there:
I have experience producing & directing. Nothing big, but I know my way around that particular field. Should this become more than simply a suggestion, I would like to make myself available in that capacity to those behind the production.