Facebook Banned The Western Journal Publisher Without Warning, Disabling Key Publishing Functions Weeks Before Election
UPDATE, October 23, 2024: A Meta spokesperson responded to The Western Journal’s request for comment and provided the following comment: “This account was disabled in error and the issue was quickly identified, and the account has been restored.”
Other questions regarding Meta’s censorship policies heading into Election Day remain unanswered.
The Western Journal Publisher and Owner Patrick Brown was banned from Facebook without warning Monday.
Brown didn’t regularly post anything to his account but did use it to operate The Western Journal’s main Facebook page, along with numerous other affiliated pages.
When the ban went into effect, key publishing functions for The Western Journal tied to Brown’s account were instantly deactivated.
All of The Western Journal’s Facebook pages stopped posting until those publishing functions could be migrated to another account.
As a result, The Western Journal’s reach was directly impacted just 15 days before the Nov. 5 presidential election.
Roughly four hours later, Brown’s account appeared to have been restored, though Facebook has yet to issue any explanation for why it was banned in the first place.
This is not the only unexplained ban of a conservative account to take place only weeks before Election Day.
The account of retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a frequent contributor to The Western Journal, was also disabled Thursday.
Screw Facebook and its election interference and censorship agenda.
@elonmusk thank you for allowing us to maintain our freedom of speech! pic.twitter.com/fflJGofjXu
— General Mike Flynn (@GenFlynn) October 20, 2024
Gen. Flynn sent The Western Journal exclusive comments responding to the ban.
“Facebook, without warning, and just prior to the most historically consequential presidential election in U.S. History, blatantly and intentionally censored me from their platform,” Flynn wrote. “This is election interference of the highest form and absolutely demonstrates once again the lies spewed by the totalitarian regime running FB of their strong desire to keep President Donald J. Trump from serving as our 47th President.”
“This behavior cannot stand in a free, open and transparent society where our freedom of speech is at severe risk and the FB tyrants prove once again how they are anti-free speech and how they continue to meddle in US elections.”
Meta, Facebook’s parent company, previously claimed it was trying to stay out of election-related censorship back in July.
In addition, during an Aug. 27 interview with The Wall Street Journal, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg went as far as to claim the Biden administration was wrong to pressure the company to censor content in 2021.
Nonetheless, the platform is facing increasing pressure from the media and election officials to silence so-called “misinformation” going into Election Day.
For example, a CNBC report published in late September cited various election officials lamenting how “misinformation” was “running rampant” on the platform.
Though it remains unclear whether or not Facebook has ramped up its censorship efforts, there are numerous reports of conservative accounts being banned.
In recent days, many X users have claimed their accounts were banned without warning in the very same manner as both Brown and Flynn.
Facebook are complete Nazis!! They disabled my Facebook and instagram with no warning saying I broke community guidelines! Didn’t post anything bad. But truth!
— Jason Christley (@Jason_Christley) October 21, 2024
“Facebook are complete Nazis!! They disabled my Facebook and instagram with no warning saying I broke community guidelines! Didn’t post anything bad. But truth!” one conservative X user wrote on Monday.
My Facebook account has just been disabled, without explanation, without warning, and without any information about how to appeal or learn why.@Facebook WHAT IS GOING ON???
— Kerry Daly (@scragsma70) October 21, 2024
“My Facebook account has just been disabled, without explanation, without warning, and without any information about how to appeal or learn why.@Facebook WHAT IS GOING ON???,” another conservative posted Monday.
“Good morning my beautiful X family. Well, with NO reason or explanation … Facebook disabled my account overnight. Imagine that…. 2 weeks from the biggest election in our lifetime!” another wrote Saturday.
The Western Journal reached out to Facebook for comment regarding the ban, as well as its censoring of conservatives and conservative organizations heading into Election Day.
If your Facebook — or any Meta account — has been banned please reach out to The Western Journal here.
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