Is the social media giant Facebook so afraid of criticism that it would retaliate against a protest event? That's the question organizers of " Facebook Blackout " are now asking. Early Tuesday morning, event organizers told Examiner that Facebook has blocked participants from inviting friends to the event, calling the invitations "spammy" or "abusive."
"Everyone is getting a message when they try to invite people saying it's spammy," one organizer said.
A number of participants at the event say they are getting the same message.
The event asks users to temporarily suspend their accounts for 24 hours on August 25th to protest what they call Facebook's "arbitrary and capricious policies" that target conservatives.
When we first reported the event on Sunday , a little more than 2,500 said they would participate. That number has since grown to more than 4,400. A similar event held on July 4 garnered just over 2,400 participants.
Organizer John Vigil said the problems began when left wing "trolls" began attacking the event in an apparent effort to goad attendees.
For some time, conservatives have said the social media giant with over a billion users worldwide is engaging in a form of viewpoint discrimination.
Recently, for example, Fox News' Todd Starnes was temporarily blocked after a post mentioning Paula Deen, the NRA and Jesus Christ. Facebook said it was a mistake and reversed the action, but that is hardly the first time such mistakes have been made.
The site also blocked links to Kirk Cameron's newest movie " Unstoppable ," and again, Facebook said it was a mistake.
Questions were raised after Facebook yanked the very popular and active pro-veteran " Uncle Sam's Misguided Children ." Another page, geared toward Army veterans , was also targeted.
Diane Sori, a conservative blogger from Florida, was banned earlier this year for a link she never posted , and a Texas man was reportedly punished for comparing a friend to a liberal .
Earlier this month, Examiner's Chris Collins reported that black conservative radio host Carl Boyd, Jr. was banned from Facebook for telling some black liberals to stop living off the government.
“I have been blocked from posting for thirty days just because I told some black liberals to stop living off the government," he told Collins.
According to Collins:
"Boyd said he posted his comment in the radical black racist Facebook group, 'World Black News and Discussions' and in return, the black liberals reported him to Facebook and was subsequently blocked from posting for a month."
Administrators of pro-veteran and conservative pages yanked by Facebook have told Examiner similar stories, with some suggesting Facebook's actions are the direct result of coordinated attacks by liberals intent upon silencing any conservative voice.
One event organizer told Examiner she is "a little freaked" by Facebook's actions, but vows to press on.
Although Facebook has revolutionized Internet communications, many say the site's actions are reminiscent of tyrannical regimes like Nazi Germany and the former Soviet Union, and many have taken to calling the site, "FascistBook."
So far, Facebook has not responded to our request for comments.
A video about the event can be seen here .
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