The Not That Social Network

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a sarcastic Canadian, in want of amusing himself, will end up in Facebook jail." ~ Jane Austen, Pride & Prejudice & Internet Trolls

A word before I start: there's cursing ahead, but you're used to that from me, and it's warranted.

Of course it happened again. The new year was barely three days old and the hammer came down on yours truly. As has happened before, and will no doubt happen again. I was tossed into Facebook jail. This of course is for something that never violates their 'community standards'- to which I say who actually oversees those community standards- and as always, there's no real appeal, nothing but silence out of them. And so I find myself locked out, biding my time, working with a priest to dig our way out. The priest looks a lot like Richard Harris and keeps talking about a treasure that he knows about.

So I get turfed for things that never violate their standards. All while they just shrug at reports I make of white supremacists and hate mongering bigots uttering what actually constitutes hate speech. Oh, sure, you can ask for a review of that decision- and I can tell you that several of my asked for reviews are still pending for over a month- but the result will be the same from Facebook. A shrug, a go to hell, and the middle finger raised. It's not so much getting turfed that annoys me- I make limited use of a secondary account- it's the rank hypocrisy of treating me like this while letting hate mongering bastards just get away with it. Every single time.

So you can imagine I'm not that sympathetic to the site. What is it that got me turfed out this time? Well, it was an insult geared towards a politician. The premier of my province of Ontario. I referred to him in a media discussion as 'white trash.'

Is that rude? Yes, perhaps. Is it racist? No.

I'm white. He's white.

And he definitely is white trash. I'm just stating the truth.

Because that premier is Doug Ford.

Leader of the Progressive Conservative (now there's a contradiction in terms) Party of Ontario. Whose entire previous political experience consists of one term as a belligerent city councilor in Toronto alongside his brother, the former mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford, who made headlines for his crack addiction and stupidity. Doug was his chief enabler, a fellow jackass, jeering bully and thug, and complete fucking moron. Rob died of cancer- one of the few times in my life I've been happy to hear someone died- and Doug managed to weasel his way into the leadership of the Tories, despite four years of proving himself unfit for any public office.

I can tell you that the fact that this party permitted this odious, ignorant, vile excuse for a human being to take over the party and turn it into his goddamned personality cult (because that's all the so-called Ford Nation ever was) is unforgivable. Beyond unforgivable.  

I will never even consider voting for them again. They could hold a gun to my head and threaten to pull the trigger and I still wouldn't. 

When I say he's white trash, I mean it. 

Back in the tumultuous days of the Ford boys and their reign of blunder in Toronto, one of the many articles to come out included suggestions that Doug was a drug dealer back in the day- an allegation that he threatened to sue over but never did. He expresses himself like a grade ten drop out- there is no indication of a thoughtful brain at work. He claims to be a successful businessman- but his family business, started by his father- has no public investors, and so its financial state is a secret. I'm personally convinced the bastard is going to (if he hasn't already started) pour public money into his company to prop up the damage that he and the third idiot Ford brother Randy have done. 

Aside from the family wealth (a legacy of his father, who apparently cheated a business partner back in the day, and without which he and the rest of his degenerate siblings would have never gotten anywhere in life), Doug Ford is white trash. Stupid, ignorant, blustering, thuggish, no-class, disdainful of education and critical thought. He's surrounded by members of provincial parliament who know exactly what he is and don't seem to care. This would be familiar to my American readers; basically Doug Ford is Donald Trump on a smaller scale without access to nukes- a complete fucking idiot who has no business being a dog catcher, let alone a government leader. Both of them, in the end, wealth or not, are white trash. Both of them are thin skinned pricks holding grudges that go back years. Both of them are miserable fucking bastards who are an insult to the human race. Gutter vermin. Scum. People who will only do this world any good one day when they are no longer in it.

So I got turfed out for calling Doug Ford white trash. To one of his supporters. Pointing out the simple reality that his devotion made him part of the die hard personality cult. This bothers me on another scale- it's shielding a politician from criticism. Not only the politician, but his followers. 

I mean, come on. If anyone in this world should have to face the full measure of criticism, it's politicians. But according to their supporters, not a Doug Ford, and not a Trump for that matter. Oh, how dare you speak up against our Great Leader, they say. And they're the ones who call us snowflakes, while screaming bloody murder when you point out their idol's unfitness to serve, or other facts.

Wake the fuck up.

So yes, I get turfed once again- oh, sure, you can ask for a review of this, and I did- I wrote something out explaining my reasons, but I fully expect it won't matter. Given that the fucking morons who act as Facebook community standards moderators haven't bothered to review any of the other items that I've flagged for a second look in terms of reported remarks in over a month, they're not going to even look at mine. And even if they do, say after this suspension is actually over, and they realize that they shouldn't have suspended me in the first place- a "whoops, I'm sorry" just isn't going to do.

Mark Zuckerberg claims that he wants an open, free social network, but one where hate speech isn't welcome. 

Bullshit. 

Because when you let racists have free rein to say whatever the hell they want, that's enabling hate speech. 

Mark Zuckerberg's actual idea of free speech is "your freedom of expression is whatever I decide it is." I've said it before, Zuckerberg, you've created a fucking monster, totally unaccountable to anyone, treating its users like garbage, mining their data, acting without responsibility, and letting hate mongering fucking bigots get away with everything. And now you're shielding inept politicians from the criticism they deserve. And for what?

So be it, Mark. It's bullshit like this that will, in the long run, spell an end to your social network and your place in the world. Your two faced fucking hypocrisy in the face of reality. 

I mean what I say right now, Fuhrer Mark: if you were dying and the only thing that could save you was a blood donation from me, I'd refuse. And then I'd tell you to fuck yourself.