In what seems like a double standard against conservatives, Facebook has not taken down a vile page depicting former Alaska governor and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin holding a gun to her head while allowing users and “fans” to post messages on the page that wish for Palin’s death.
The social networking site has banned conservatives and conservative pages for lesser “offenses.”
The website Pundit Press, which monitors Facebook pages that target conservatives, found a Facebook page titled, “I hate it when I wake up and Sarah Palin is still alive.”
The page shows “a cartoon caricature of Palin holding a pistol to her head” and has over 3,000 likes. The page, though, claims it is not advocating Palin’s assassination.
The page claims that it is simply “a page about venting dislike over Sarah Palin” that in “no way advocates an assassination of Sarah Palin in any way, shape or form.” The page’s ground rules include “no epic trolling” and spamming.
According to Pundit Press, though, the page has incited fans to post that they wish Palin were dead. In 2011, for instance, a 54-year-old named Mark Hamblett posted: “PS Sarah Palin is still breathing which distresses me.”
Facebook has not taken any action, even though it has banned users for sharing videos or posts deemed to be offense. A 68-year-old Facebook user told the Examiner that Facebook blocked her from “posting after sharing a video link to just six pages”; she said she did not know where to go for political activism other than Facebook since poor health prevented her from “participating with local conservative groups.”
Earlier in January, the social networking behemoth also threatened to shut down the popular “Chicks on the Right” page before apologizing for what was later called a mistake. Facebook issued the apology only after Fox News’ Todd Starnes wrote about the story.
One of the co-founders of “Chicks on the Right” observed Facebook was “targeting conservatives” and told Starnes that liberals “who are hell-bent on silence conservatives” work together to report conservative posters and websites to try to get them banned.
Facebook also mistakenly banned the page for the conservative Illinois Review, citing an algorithm change.
After Palin gave an exclusive interview to Breitbart News about her future after turning down Fox’s offer to renew her contract, liberals, especially those who have been threatened by Palin’s appeal, have taken to Facebook and message boards to spew more vile at Palin and her family.