Are you KIDDING ME?

Are you KIDDING ME?

all the trigger warnings  

There is a Facebook page entitled “Elliot Rodger is an American hero” (no link, but you can find it easily enough). Facebook offers the ability to report pages that are harassing, so that’s what I did - and look what their response is!  

Apparently this page does not violate Facebook’s Community Standards. These would be the same standards that get people in trouble for posting pictures of mothers breastfeeding, or the kids’ bath time.  

To quote from those Community Standards:  

 Facebook does not permit hate speech, but distinguishes between serious and humorous speech. While we encourage you to challenge ideas, institutions, events, and practices, we do not permit individuals or groups to attack others based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability or medical condition.  

I would say this is pretty obviously hate speech and not humorous in the least. Look, this isn’t 4chan. I have no doubt there are already one million animated gifs of kawaii kittens acting out Elliot Rodger’s shooting spree, complete with “Never gonna give you up” on the soundtrack, but that’s expected over there. If you have no rules, that’s what happens - but if you set rules, guess what? People expect you to enforce them, universally and fairly.  

This isn’t quite my “boycott Facebook” moment, but it’s one more broken thread in the string that’s holding me there.