Facebook’s shame: The shocking Leelah Alcorn hate page

Facebook appears to have today taken down a ‘community’ set up for the express purpose of mocking Leelah Alcorn and urging trans people to kill themselves.

However, this did not happen until after Gay Star News made senior managers aware of its existence, as over the last 24 hours, Facebook moderators have persistently claimed the page was entirely acceptable to Facebook’s community standards.

Warning: Some of what follows is distressing, particulaly the link to the hate group's page.

The Facebook community page was titled ‘Go truck yourself’, a clear reference to the fact that trans teen Leelah Alcorn died after being run over by a truck. The page address includes the term ‘nomoredegenerates’.

The page contains multiple images associated with death. The comment ‘Go truck yourself’, is printed directly over a picture of Leelah Alcorn.

There are also many other insults directed at the trans community. In a comment that combines racism with transphobia, the page’s author writes: ‘You Marxists freak out when a mutant degenerate an heros itself under a truck.’ (sic)

There is also reference to ‘the Holocahoax’ and ‘muh 6 gorillion chosen ones’.

However, when trans users of Facebook, some highly distressed by this content, reported the page, they were sent a standard response, telling them Facebook ‘reviewed the page you reported for containing hate speech or symbols and found it doesn’t violate our “Community Standards”’.

As a direct result the page owner then posted: ‘Man... All that reporting and you still can’t take me down? You degenerates are pathetic. You’re all a bunch of pussies.’

This remained so until an hour after this Gay Star News reporter contacted Facebook and asked them to respond to questions about why they were continuing to host this page.

Facebook have not yet provided any official comment as to why they consider such material does not breach hate speech guidelines. However, they do have a fairly checkered history on removal of hate speech and incitement to violence.

Over the last decade they have frequently removed entire pages and communities for hosting pictures showing breastfeeding. However, on more than one occasion, sites calling for violence against LGBTI minorities or against women have been classed as acceptable on the grounds they might be considered humour.

In the last week, Facebook has been criticized for its refusal to remove Islamophobic material and similar hate speech.

Community activists are concerned pages of this kind are part of a wider backlash brought on by sympathy for Leelah.

One group, using internet anonymity as a cover for their activity has been actively celebrating the suicide of trans individuals, and urging its members to phone trans support hotlines, including those dedicated to preventing suicide, in order to block them.

There have since been reports from the United States of trans hotlines being blocked as a result, with time and resource being taken up by people whose primary aim is to prevent suicidal trans people from obtaining help and support.

When a Homophobic Group Asked for Stories of Strong Marriages, These Gay Couples Were Happy to Oblige

The National Organization for Marriage, one of the most visible and insistent antigay marriage groups in the country, really should have known better when it put out a call on Facebook asking people to tag and describe “a couple in your life who have a strong, lasting marriage that inspires you” and to include the hashtag #1m1w, “meaning one man, one woman.”

NOM was expecting responses describing how marriages between a man and a woman are superior to same-sex unions, but what it got were cute shout-outs to and from gay couples.

So @NOMupdate asked for inspiring marriage stories. Bet some of you have a few to share :) http://t.co/roXv2Xgtx3 #1m1w #equality
— Justin McLachlan (@justinmclachlan) December 10, 2014

The thread is still going, and while it’s not the most civil discussion on social media, most of the top comments are sweet stories of gay and lesbian romance.

ReaganBook Becomes FreedomBook

Back in July we all had a lot of fun with hate group crackpot Janet Porter's launch of ReaganBook, a conservatives-only social media site meant to counter those homofascists at Facebook. Today JMG reader Sean tips us that the URL for ReaganBook now redirects to a placeholder page for a site called FreedomBook. I'm betting that the Reagan estate sent Porter a stern cease-and-desist notice.

‘God’ of Facebook crowdfunds billboard saying he loves gays to spite Westboro Baptists

The brain behind Facebook’s popular ‘God’ humor page has crowdfunded over $US40,000 in a campaign to erect pro-gay billboards in the home town of the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church.

‘God’s’ followers pledged the funds in just ten days, and ‘God’ now plans to buy more billboards with the message that ‘God loves gays’ in other parts of the United States if he can raise further funds.

Supporters will be rewarded with bumper stickers, limited edition t-shirts and posters saying ‘God loves gay’ signed by ‘God’ himself.

Around 1,200 people pledged to fund the campaign with donations of between $1 and $75 for the total package of rewards.

‘God’ is hoping to raise a campaign goal of $50,000 in 60 days to completely fund the project and all supporter rewards, and he has also bought the rights to the web address www.godlovesgaypeople.com to further the campaign.

‘A mean lie has been put into the world for thousands of years. The time has come to right this wrong,’ ‘God’ says of his campaign.

‘God loves gay, lesbian and transgendered people. God loves ALL people!

‘Therefore, the LORD shall put up a billboard in Topeka, Kansas that says "God Loves Gays." The time has come to fight back. With love!’

God announced yesterday that he had booked the first billboard and that it will be erected in Topeka, Kansas on 8 September.

To support God’s campaign on crowdfunding website IndieGoGo click here

Watch God’s campaign video below:

Facebook Donates $10,000 to Utah's Anti-gay Attorney General Sean Reyes

Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes' re-election campaign got a healthy influx of cash from Facebook, Inc. back in May, according to disclosures filed with the Utah Lieutenant Governor's office.

The company, which is usually a strong corporate backer of LGBT equality, donated $10,000 to the man who vowed late last year to 'spend whatever it takes' to prevent gay couples from obtaining marriage licenses in his state.

QSalt Lake reports:

When asked about the donation to the person who has arguably become the face of legal opposition to marriage equality in America, a Facebook spokesperson responded with: 

“Facebook has a strong record on LGBT issues and that will not change, but we make decisions about which candidates to support based on the entire portfolio of issues important to our business, not just one. A contribution to a candidate does not mean that we agree with every policy or position that candidate takes. We made this donation for the same reason we’ve donated to Attorneys General on the opposite side of this issue – because they are committed to fostering innovation and an open Internet.”

LGBT supporters unsatisfied with Facebook's response have launched an online petition calling for the company to "publicly decry this bigotry and make an equal or greater contribution to the campaign of Charles Stormont who is also seeking the office of Utah Attorney General."

Earlier this month, we reported that Reyes had appealed a Tenth Circuit's decision striking down the state's gay marriage ban directly to the U.S. Supreme court.

Busted: 5 Myths about Facebook's messenger app

Facebook's recent effort to force people to adopt its standalone mobile messaging app has privacy-concerned users up in arms. Many of them believe the app is especially invasive.

In truth, Facebook Messenger isn't any more invasive than Facebook's main app —or other similar applications.One blog from the Huffington Post published in December has gone viral, making the rounds on the social network recently because it claims the app gives Facebook "direct control over your mobile device" and allows Facebook to call phone numbers without a users' intervention and send text messages without confirmation, but none of that is accurate.

The fear and confusion stem from a message that greets owners of Android devices when they install the app. It explains that the app requires permission access to the device's camera, microphone, list of contacts and other information.

Here's what Facebook's mobile messaging app does and doesn't do.

—Myth: You have to use the Messenger app if you want to send messages to your Facebook friends.

—Reality: While it's required to download if you are using Facebook's mobile app on the iPhone or Android smartphones, you can avoid it if use the Facebook messenger service on your desktop or laptop, iPad or even the mobile Facebook website.

—Myth: The Facebook Messenger app's terms of service are different from —and more intrusive than— Facebook's own official terms.

—Reality: Facebook's terms of service are the same for all its mobile apps, including the main Facebook app. You can read it here: m.facebook.com/policies. What's upsetting people is the list of "permissions" they see when they download and install the app on an Android phone. It's a long list with 10 items, each of which states that the app needs access to features on your phone including contacts, calendar, location data and Wi-Fi information. Sure, that's a lot of personal data. But it's the same data most messaging apps have access to. On the iPhone, users don't get the list of permissions when they install the app, but when they use it, permissions pop up individually. You can view the app's list of permissions here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.orca . Click "view details" under Permissions.

—Myth: Facebook's Messenger app will use your phone's microphone to record you.

—Reality: The app needs permission to use your phone's microphone and camera. But it requires that access because the microphone is needed for voice calling, a service that the standalone app offers that the Facebook app doesn't, and sending sound with videos. Same with the camera, it needs access if you want to send your friends pictures.

—Myth: Facebook will direct the app to send SMS, or text, messages without your permission.

—Reality: One of the permissions does say that Facebook can edit, receive, read and send SMS messages. But the company says the reason it wants to send and receive SMS messages is so that if you add a phone number to your Messenger account, you can confirm by a confirmation code that Facebook sends via text message.

—Myth: The Messenger app is new.

—Reality: Facebook's Messenger app has been around since 2011. In April, it started requiring that users in Europe download and install the app if they wish to send messages to Facebook friends. Two weeks ago, the company said it would expand the requirement to other parts of the world. Facebook says it's forcing users to make the switch because a standalone app offers more features. For example, the app is faster, it offers a selfie cam, stickers and can be used to reach people on your contact list who are not Facebook users.

Hate Group Leader Janet Porter Launches Anti-Gay Facebook Alternative Called ReaganBook, Much Hilarity Ensues

Kyle Mantyla writes at Right Wing Watch:

Last weekend, the Ohio Liberty Coalition hosted a "Reload 4 Liberty" event at which Janet Porter spoke about her never-ending push to get her anti-choice "Heartbeat Bill" legislation passed in Ohio. But apparently that is not all that Porter is up to these days, as she also revealed to the audience that she'll soon be unveiling something called ReaganBook, which aims to become "the Facebook for patriots." Because Facebook is run by the sorts of people who march in gay pride parades and supposedly censors messages from anti-gay activists like Peter LaBarbera, Porter explained that she decided to launch ReaganBook as a conservative alternative. "We're tearing down walls, get it?" she said. "We're tearing down walls of tyranny, or censorship." 

At this writing ReaganBook has 303 members, including Bathtime For Bonzo, Chazwomp Hogswallow, Cirrhosis Trash, Corn Holey O, Duke Nukem, Dig Bick, and...well, you can see what's going on. Snork! (And fly, monkeys, fly!)

Facebook's Homophobia Continues

Click to enlarge and to be enraged.

Del Shores, an accomplished gay filmmaker, has been banned from posting anything on Facebook for 30 days for posting something that the social-media giant felt went against its standards: A celebratory message about gay marriage.

Unreal.

Facebook has a serious flaw in its system when something like this can happen. The text of Shores's message was as follows (or click the above image to enlarge):

“AN EMOTIONAL MOMENT FOR ME TODAY!

“I'm not sure that all of you know that I wrote for and was one of the producers of Queer as Folk for the last three seasons. Today, a fan pointed out that Debbie can now marry Carl! Why? Because in one episode of QAF - when Carl asked Debbie to marry him, she said she would not until gay marriage was legal in Pennsylvania. How amazing! I wrote the writers: 'Debbie and Carl can get married!' -- and my good friend Michael MacLennan wrote me this: 'And what a heady time. In those Dark Days of Bush (and not the positive and life-affirming variety) we'd have never imagined that less than ten years later, such progress as this would be happening.' I teared up. It's an amazing time in history! Love you all!”

His response to Facebook after 24 hours with no satisfactory answer from the powers that be"

From Del Shores, via a Facebook fan club account:

Facebook Bans Equal Rights Facebook Page ‘Have A Gay Day’ For Posting Picture Of Two Men Kissing

Have A Gay Day, which has over 510,000 likes, released the following statement this evening:

We posted a photo of two men sharing a kiss. The only thing visible was lips touching. The quote on the photo read, did this picture offend you? Did you ever think, maybe your opinion is offensive? We had posted this photo in the past with no issue and the last time we posted this photo was actually six months ago.
All 106 admins of this page were kicked off of Facebook and logged out of their mobile apps and computer access. When logging back into Facebook we were told that this photo was found to be against the Community Standards for Facebook. We have reviewed the standards and feel that Facebook is in error. Many of us have received account blocks and locks from myself a 30 day ban to some with 15 day bans and yet others with only a few hours.
There is currently no way to appeal this decision. In the past Facebook has apologized to LGBT pages that had photos removed of couples kissing and restored their accounts. We are asking that Facebook wipe this accusation of being against their community standard from our record and restore our power to post on our personal pages and fan pages. This is truly uncalled for.
We have enabled back up Facebook accounts so we have the ability to still post. We ask that Facebook review their decision and promptly restore us as a page, our personal accounts and issue an apology as well as working to make sure this doesn’t occur again.
We will do everything in our power to bring this to Facebooks attention as quickly as possible.
If you are a member of the media or Facebook our inbox is always open for interaction. Thank you.
Michael
Have A Gay Day

This marks the second time this year that a major LGBT rights Facebook page has been banned for posting an image of a gay couple.

Earlier this year, the founder of the Gay Marriage USA Facebook page received a notification that the photograph of an interracial gay couple was “offensive”. The photograph of the marriage of a bishop at a relatively small Pentecostal church movement with his husband resulted in a number of complaints, according to the Guardian.

Facebook informed the page’s administrator that he would be prohibited from posting content on to the Gay Marriage USA Facebook page for a week for breaking Facebook’s “policies and community standards”.

According to the Guardian:

Lipp claimed that he has been reprimanded by Facebook numerous times over the past year following complaints that he perceived to have originated from homophobic subscribers to his page. He told the Guardian: “Not once has Facebook ever contacted me to give me an opportunity to respond – it simply blocks me each time and each time the block is for a longer period of time. It’s totally unjust that I should be punished for someone else’s homophobia.” After being notified of the situation by the Guardian, Facebook relented and reinstated the Gay Marriage USA page.
A spokesman for Facebook said: “The content of the photograph in question did not violate our terms, however it was removed in error.”
He explained that the correct action would have been to remove the homophobic comments, adding: “Normally these comments are reviewed separately and removed where appropriate. In this instance the photograph itself was mistakenly taken down, despite there being nothing in the picture that breaks our rules. We apologise for the error.”
A source at Facebook explained that the company receives thousands of complaints about content every day and that occasionally mistakes are made but that a longer term review is underway of the way that the social network deals with accusations of offence.
Earlier this month, Facebook apologised for the deletion of content posted by PinkNews that used the word “faggot” while reporting on a homophobic outburst made by the singer Azealia Banks. Following the post, several PinkNews staff found themselves temporarily blocked from the social network.

We have previously reported a post made by the Facebook Page “Gay Marriage Is Disgusting” in April, for a sign with two nooses and a biblical quote suggesting that gay people shall be put to death. The post remains on the Facebook page:

In October, Facebook reversed course and said it will not remove videos of people being decapitated. Facebook’s community standards page acknowledges that “graphic imagery is a regular component of current events,” yet states it will not tolerate the sharing of “graphic content for sadistic pleasure.”

“Facebook has long been a place where people turn to share their experiences, particularly when they’re connected to controversial events on the ground, such as human rights abuses, acts of terrorism and other violent events,” a Facebook spokesperson clarified to CNET. “People share videos of these events on Facebook to condemn them. If they were being celebrated, or the actions in them encouraged, our approach would be different.”

It appears that a video of a beheading is more acceptable to Facebook than a picture of two men kissing.

Full version of the photo:

 

Be careful what you LIKE on Facebook

You’ve seen those pictures posted on Facebook “type ‘move’ into the comments and watch what happens” or “If I get a million likes my dad will get me a car.”  They seem innocent enough, but they are big business, and you are not doing yourself any favors if you like or comment.

The classic example is a colorful picture of a prism with the image from the cover of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon album in it. It’s accompanied buy the caption: “OMG it really works ♥ Step 1: Click on the

Picture. Step 2: Hit Like.Step 3: Comment "MOVE" Then see the Magic!!” You see in your news feed that your friends have liked and commented on the image, so clearly something amazing must happen when you interact as directed.  So you click, you comment, and... nothing happens.

Or at least you think nothing happens.  But your activity has now spread this image and the page into the news feed of all your friends.

Like Farming

It’s called Like Farming. Here’s how it works. Someone creates a page and starts posting photos inspirational quotes or other innocent content. You like the page and it now shows up regularly in your news feed. Anytime you interact with a post, that activity shows up in your friends’ news feeds.The more likes the page gets, the more it shows up. The more comments each picture gets, the more power the page gets in the Facebook news feed algorithm.And that makes it more and more visible.

The social engineering of these sites is impressive, stimulating pictures like the Pink Floyd image described above or moving stories of‘causes’ that need your likes for support. The most famous of these revolved around a girl called “Mallory”

"This is my sister Mallory. She has Down syndrome (sic)and doesn't think she's beautiful. Please like this photo so I can show her later that she truly is beautiful." But there is no Mallory. The picture is of a girl named Katie whose mother is horrified that her daughter’s image is being used for the scam.

Scammers Are Making Money Off Your Likes

So why would the owners of these fan pages go to such lengths to scam us into liking? Because there’s money to be made from them.

When the page gets enough fans (a hundred thousand or more)the owner might start placing ads on the page. Those ads show up in your news feed. They could be links to an app, a game, or a service they want you to buy. It could be a “recommendation” for a product on Amazon where the page owner gets a commission for every purchase made through the link. Or more nefariously, the page owner could be paid to spread malware by linking out to sites that install viruses on your computer for the purposes of identity theft. Bottom line: access to your news feed is lucrative.

Fan Pages For Sale

Just as a magazine that sells ads, these pages are a business, and they can be bought and sold just like any other business. Online message board, Warriorforum.com listed multiple sites for sale like this page with almost 500,0000 fans of hamburgers. Price tag to buy the site: $5000. Another site about cuddling has over a million fans and was listed for sale on Warrior Forum for $7000. Many of these postings on Warrior Forum come and go for fear that Facebook will find out about them and take the sites down. For example, I found this Friends TV show page for sale for $8500 but the Warrior Forum listing has since been removed. This page has 1.8 million likes and posts a note right on Facebook stating it’s for sale –  no price listed –  just a warning against “low offers.”

A spokesperson for Facebook says selling pages is specifically against the terms of service, and any page that is sold or engages in fraudulent behavior can be removed. But clearly this is a cat and mouse game,with Like Farms popping up on a regular basis. 

How To Unlike

If you’ve liked something and now regret it, you can unlike it. Go to your profile,choose “more” button and choose “likes” from the drop down menu – then “Unlike.”

If you have friends who are over-liking on scammy posts,share this on your Facebook Page so they’ll get the message.