Former Congressman and Presidential Candidate Ron Paul announced on Twitter Monday that Facebook had suspended his account for “repeatedly going against … Community Standards.” The move from the tech giant came—surely not coincidentally—after Paul published a column to his Facebook page criticizing Facebook (along with Twitter) for banning President Trump, calling the action a “purge.”
In his tweets, Paul wrote, “With no explanation other than ‘repeatedly going against our community standards, @Facebook has blocked me from managing my page. Never have we received notice of violating community standards in the past and nowhere is the offending post identified.”
Paul also noted that, “The only thing [he] posted to Facebook today was [his] weekly “Texas Straight Talk” column, which [has been] published every week since 1976.”
According to Newsweek, the column Paul had quoted criticized the recent sweeping purge of conservative voices, including President Trump, from social media. In the column, Paul wrote, “”Last week’s massive social media purges—starting with President Trump’s permanent ban from Twitter and other outlets—was shocking and chilling, particularly to those of us who value free expression and the free exchange of ideas.”
Paul’s son, Senator Rand Paul, tweeted his own comment on the affair, saying, “Facebook now considers advocating for liberty to be sedition. Where will it end?”
Unfortunately, the answer to that question is that the end is nowhere in sight. The era of bullying by big tech has been allowed to progress too far, and with Senator Paul’s party now in the minority of the legislative branch and soon out of control of the White House, it is doubtful whether Congress or the DOJ will take any action to correct the course. Conservatives will need to look for alternatives; but whether the radical left whose ideology has bled so deeply into Silicon Valley will leave them any place to rest remains to be seen.