Facebook Censorship of Political Jaywalker Infringes on Anonymous Free Speech!

What the detractors of Political Jaywalker the creator of Pedestrian Observer GB failed to accomplish with veiled threats of intimidation and lawsuit of libel that never came, FaceBook in one stroke using “Fake Name” to go around censorship has effectively silenced our fundamental right to free speech in one digital stroke. Below is the basis for deactivating Political jaywalker’s account and let us see if this category applies:

Your account was disabled because the name under which it was registered was fake. We do not allow users to register with fake names, to impersonate any person or entity, or to falsely state or otherwise misrepresent themselves or their affiliations. In addition, Facebook accounts are intended for use by single individuals, so groups, clubs, businesses, or other types of organizations are not permitted to maintain accounts.

First of all Political Jaywalker is an individual account and solely accessed by a single person. Political Jaywalker is not impersonating any person or entity clearly having no intent to falsely misrepresent any known personality or affiliations but one with its own distinct personality and character.  It is basically a pseudonym for anonymity guaranteed by the Bill of Rights of the First Amendment in particular. If indeed they are prohibiting groups to which Political Jaywalker is technically not a group why then do they allow huge media outfit such as CNN and others to be at Facebook? How about offensive human rights violators having their online presence at Facebook, why pick on Political Jaywalker that serves as an antithesis for this group? The Electronic Frontier Foundation clearly states the rights of anonymity in the online discourse:

Anonymous communications have an important place in our political and social discourse. The Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that the right to anonymous free speech is protected by the First Amendment. A much-cited 1995 Supreme Court ruling in McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission reads:

Protections for anonymous speech are vital to democratic discourse. Allowing dissenters to shield their identities frees them to express critical, minority views . . . Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. . . . It thus exemplifies the purpose behind the Bill of Rights and of the First Amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation . . . at the hand of an intolerant society.

This is the digital age and yet Sigmund Freud’s sentiments still rings true to this day when he states:

What progress we are making.  In the Middle Ages they would have burned me.  Now they are content with burning my books.

The ease of censorship has never been this easy, they don’t even have to burn books, it is just a matter of keystroke and voila one is exterminated to oblivion without the hassle of inhaling smoke from the burning of the books. Indeed we have come a long way in this modern day and age but are we really any different from the ugly past of stifling diverse opinions? We are just a drop in the bucket of the vast enormous digital worldwide web, but just the same a quote On Liberty by John Stuart Mill makes sense to this day:

The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it.  If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth:  if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.

It took a lot of time, energy, and effort to build a network at FaceBook and it took only seconds for the FaceBook Team to arbitrarily expunge Political Jaywalker from the list without even the benefit of a due process or even a warning on their perceived violations of the terms of agreement. Have they not considered the fact that Political Jaywalker counts as online friends numerous respected personalities in the Philippine community? Learned man and woman of respectability would not have added Political Jaywalker if after all these years he was known to falsely misrepresent anyone, any entity or groups? Should they not have disallowed us to join in the first place instead of letting us spend enormous time and effort just so they can expunge you at their whim that infringes on our liberty?

A quote on Judge John Kane ruling in F.A.C.T. net (Fight Against Coercive Tactics network) a group dedicated to helping victims of cults, case of illegal search and confiscation of computer related materials owned by its directors in their case against Scientology says it all:

The public interest is best served by the free exchange of ideas.

Is it a coincidence that the timing of the censorship of Political Jaywalker came at a time when I spoke strongly against a psycho cult leader accused of killing his wife and leaving 23 people dead in its wake as the case gathers dust in the Philippine courts? I hate to think so, but one thing for sure The FaceBook Team has unwittingly become an executioner of a violent psycho disguised as a “Holy” man.

The Facebook Team is probably not a big fan of Voltaire whose powerful stand on censorship speaks loudly:

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

I actively write and support Bloggers Rights specifically those victimized by repressive regimes such as the arrest of China's Activist Blogger Hu Jia and Singapore's Gopalan Nair, Nay Phone Latt or Nay Myo Latt sentenced to more than 20 years in jail by Burmese authorities, and  so many others, ironically while my experience pales in comparison I must say I can personally feel their pain with this sad experience.

If you are on my FaceBook especially if you belong to my network and a strong believer in preserving and guaranteeing our democratic rights of freedom of expression please help us restore Political Jaywalkers account at FaceBook by posting this particular article on your Facebook profile.

You can also help in the preservation of our right to free speech by copy pasting this question to your FaceBook status page:

Where do we draw the line on censorship, is it fair and just to deactivate Political Jaywalker out of FaceBook infringing on his constitutionally guaranteed rights of anonymous free speech?

Will I suffer in silence alone and abandoned? I believe and have a strong faith in my network of online friends and others whom I may not have had the opportunity to have an online interaction will help me right the injustice of censorship. If you believe in upholding our rights and freedom to express ourselves without fear of recriminations and intolerance of others please copy and post this to your blog and encourage others to do the same........
__________________________________________________
UPDATE: After 24 harrowing hours and 2 article post later, Facebook finally restored PJ's account using Pedro Jacobo at the expense of losing my nom de plume Political Jaywalker.... the price we have to pay for freedom, thank you all for your support.

In order to retain the online presence at Facebook of Political Jaywalker a fan page has neen setup not because of being a celebrity status as we are far from being one or having the illussion of one  but the principle for which we stand in our quest to jaywalk the political milieu of pathetic patronage politics of Trapo scalawags. See you at Political Jaywalker Fan Page where we can start our journey in our quest for good governance.......
 __________________________________________________

Subscribe in a reader Click on the images to receive your free email updatesPOGB will not sell, exchange, use or allow any 3rd party access to your email for
any other purposes without exception, email exclusively for article updates only.Follow PJ @ Facebook, NetworkedBlogs, & Twitter






Politics corruption scandals Filipinos Filipino-Americans Philippine Politics