A petition at the White House "We the People" site seeking action on Facebook's treatment of grassroots conservatives was yanked Monday, less than 24 hours after it was first posted.
Paul Robichaud, a Navy veteran from the Denver area, told Examiner he started the petition Sunday, seeking government action to redress the problems many grassroots conservatives have recently experienced on Facebook.
"Facebook denies us our rights to free speech by NOT allowing us to post our thoughts, ideas, and opinions," the petition stated.
"Tired of being censored by Facebook for your 'First Amendment' rights, sign the petition I started to have this issue addressed. Bloggers, Patriots, Tea Party, Conservatives, and Republicans are having major issues in this ordeal," the petition added.
But the link now says the petition was pulled.
"The petition you are trying to access has been removed from the site under our Moderation Policy because it is in violation of our Terms of Participation ," the page now reads.
According to the White House web site, petitioners "agree not to post threats of unlawful violence or harm to any individual or group; obscene, vulgar, or lewd material; defamatory or fraudulent statements; terms commonly understood to constitute profanity or abusive or degrading slurs or epithets; information invading an individual’s privacy; and information that if published would violate criminal law or give rise to civil liability. These categories of material are inconsistent with the limited purpose of We the People and the larger purpose and function of the White House’s website."
"To avoid the appearance of improper influence, the White House may decline to address certain procurement, law enforcement, adjudicatory, or similar matters properly within the jurisdiction of federal departments or agencies, federal courts, or state and local government in its response to a petition," the site added.
While the petition Robichaud posted was not violent, lewd, obscene, vulgar, defamatory, fraudulent, contained no slurs or epithets and did not violate criminal law, the administration may have decided that the petition was not something that was within the federal government's jurisdiction.
No one will ever know, because no one told Robichaud why the petition was pulled, he said.
Facebook appears to have targeted conservative bloggers by severely limiting their ability to share links since early January . A number of grassroots conservatives have also complained that Facebook has warned them after posting comments and many have been blocked from commenting or posting altogether.
During the election, the social media site came under fire for censoring an anti-Obama message put out by Special Operations Speaks (SOS), a group of Special Operations veterans and supporters who did not support Obama's re-election.
During the month of October, the site turned a blind eye to a page advocating the murder of GOP nominee Mitt Romney . The page was ultimately pulled, but Facebook told many it did not violate their terms of service.
For many, it seems that the site is apparently okay with advocating the murder of a Republican candidate, but is not okay with conservatives posting links.
Adding insult to injury, Robichaud's petition asking the highest office in the country for assistance in supporting free speech and equal treatment has been pulled.
Meanwhile, the White House site contains a petition asking the administration to "authorize the production of a recurring television program featuring Vice President Joe Biden."
Another petition demands the administration impeach Republicans in the House and withhold their pay and benefits retroactive to November 2012.
After the 2012 election, residents in all 50 states signed petitions asking permission to peacefully secede from the Union, a request the White House has no authority to approve.
Perhaps it's time the White House close the site down and save the taxpayer's money.
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