Facebook came under fire Sunday for blocking the hashtag “revolution” on the Fourth of July, a federal holiday celebrating the passage of the Declaration of Independence during the American Revolution.
Sharp-eyed social-media mavens noticed starting Friday that Facebook searches for “#revolution” were met with a “Keeping Our Community Safe” notification with an image of a locked page and the message, “Posts with revolution are temporarily hidden here.”
“Some content in those posts goes against our Community Standards,” said the message, which included a link to the standards page.
Facebook bars a host of content that violates its community standards under categories that include “Violence and Incitement,” “Sexual Solicitation” and “False News,” but the tech platform did not explain online why “#revolution” had been canceled.
The block was still in effect Sunday, prompting plenty of commentary from critics about the decision to prohibit the hashtag on a weekend dedicated to commemorating the American Revolution.
“Welcome to the re-education of America on Independence Day weekend,” tweeted Rep. Thomas Massie, Kentucky Republican.
Rep. Madison Cawthorn, North Carolina Republican, tweeted that “#BigTech is at it again, prohibiting Americans from commemorating our independence from a tyrannical government.”
“They don’t want to teach history because it is repeating itself,” said Mr. Cawthorn. “Wake up, America.”
The Washington Times has reached out to Facebook for comment.
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