Defending freedom of the press: Activists now suing Facebook over censorship

Monday, July 18, 2016 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: Facebook, censorship, Pamela Geller

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(NaturalNews) Pamela Geller is an explosive figure who is not daunted by the "politically correct." In particular, when it comes to discussing the reality of violent Islamic extremism – her bailiwick – she is not only vocal, but relentless.

Only, Facebook can't seem to handle the truths that she and her supporters put forth. So the world's biggest social media site tends to block, remove and ban people and posts on the subject, which its censors find injurious to their consciences. And that includes Geller.

Well, Geller has had enough of it. So she's taking the social media behemoth to court.

In a column she wrote for Breitbart, she explained, in detail, why she's taking legal action. In a nutshell, she's tired of being treated like women are treated in Islamic countries.

"Every day I received emails from readers and members of my various Facebook groups, asking for help after having been blocked for posting a story or comment that might offend Muslims," she wrote. "This is America, not Saudi Arabia. Enough. I am suing."

'Most brutal ideology'

She stated further that she is being assisted by the American Freedom Law Center, or AFLC, a Judeo-Christian law firm, and that she filed suit in recent days in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The suit, which was brought on behalf of Geller, the group Jihad Watch, Robert Spencer (director of Jihad Watch) and the American Freedom Defense Initiative, challenges Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act under the First Amendment.

In a press release, AFLC stated that, "Section 230 provides immunity from lawsuits to Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, thereby permitting these social media giants to engage in government-sanctioned censorship and discriminatory business practices free from legal challenge."

The AFLC explained that Geller and Spencer, together with the organizations that they operate, are regularly subjected to discrimination by social media sites including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, because of their beliefs and views that radical Islam is dangerous and deadly. The social media sites, the organization said, view such truths as offensive to Muslims, though clearly Geller and Spencer are not singling out Muslims in general, but rather the radical elements within it.

"Such discrimination, which is largely religion-based in that these California businesses are favoring adherents of Islam over those who are not, is prohibited in many states, but particularly in California by the state's anti-discrimination law, which is broadly construed to prohibit all forms of discrimination," the AFLC said. "However, because of the immunity granted by the federal government, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are free to engage in their otherwise unlawful, discriminatory practices."

Geller says that she has been documenting Facebook's "outrageous bias" for a number of years. She said that her documentation shows that Facebook is "notoriously one-sided" in the way it views those who oppose terrorism and who voice support for Israel. Geller also noted that her stance against what she has called "the most brutal and extreme ideology" on the planet – namely, Islam-based sharia law – has consistently been blocked or banned.

Not 'obscene,' just honest

In June, she said, the social media giant took down a Facebook page she had established in the wake of the ISIS-inspired terrorist attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., because censors claimed it contained "hateful, obscene, or threatening" content. But, she said, opposing violent terrorist acts should not be considered any of those things. Neither should pointing out the obvious – that the act, and so many others before it, was committed by a radical terrorist who stated plainly before he was killed by police that he acted in the name of Islam.

"What is hateful, obscene and threatening is that Facebook is moving to silence everyone who speaks honestly about the motivating ideology behind such attacks," she wrote.

Natural News readers are well aware of Facebook's censorship. We have reported in the past that the social media site bans or blocks many alternative media outlets, holistic health products and other non-standard content, preferring instead to push a globalist agenda.

"This is so typical of the elites. They control policy, they control the media, they control the culture — but they can't control the people. And this makes them crazy. If they could, they would change the people," Geller wrote.

She is right, of course.

Sources:

Breitbart.com

NaturalNews.com

AmericanFreedomLawCenter.org

Science.NaturalNews.com