This needs to be a book chapter, not a post. One way I get my head straight is to write an issue out. Writing always clears my mind.
So starting at the beginning...
I got up one morning to find multitudes of "notifications" from Facebook that my posts were violating their community standards. Some of the notifications said they were spam. And of course, neither was true.
Over the next few days, most anything I posted was blocked, and up came that notice. The next day I went online to find FIFTY SIX (56) notifications from Facebook against my posts. I hadn't even posted 56 posts ( ! ! ! ) and taking a closer look I found that Facebook was sending multiple notifications against the same posts.
This is what I do. My whole life is dedicated to the Lord and it is HE who told me to use Facebook as ministry. I remember the day, I'll never forget it. I remember how shocked I was when he told me to use Facebook.
"You want me to use FACEBOOK???"
So I started, and have continued several years now. It's what I do. From morning to night I am working on blogs, and then posting blog posts onto Facebook. Every day I post a devotional, an article I've written, and a video. I also look through postings from friends and either "like" or comment, or share their posts.
It's my job, and I put way more than 40 hours a week into it. If Satan wanted to hurt me, that's where he could hurt me the most.
So ...what to do about the censorship? I had no idea. All I knew is that I couldn't post.
That morning - anyone who walks with the Lord will relate to this - my Scripture reading was Galatians 5:10
"...he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is."
Wow, I had never seen that before in the multitudes of times I've read through the New Testament. And on the very day I SO MUCH needed encouragement. This Scripture assured me that not only do I have an enemy, but that the Lord himself will deal with him or her!
Within the next 4 days I received more than 250 "notifications" from Facebook that my posts violated their "community standards"or were considered spam. So every time since then when I've posted from my blogs - that message comes up and the post is removed. Over 250 times. Within 4 days.
So then I spent a huge amount of time researching - and I've found there's nothing you can do. Facebook has no email address and no phone number. You wouldn't believe the amount of people out there with similar problems. Some were even businesses that went down and they had no recourse.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Here's an email I sent a friend:
"I can no longer message you or anyone. I was going to answer a friend's message and a box came up saying it was violating their terms. In Messenger!!!
I tried to post in the groups, the posts were taken down.
I followed all the suggestions people made about blocking and settings, etc. Nothing worked.
I tried creating a new Facebook account, they knew it was me.
There is absolutely nothing more I can do."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
So I did some research and found only one place where you can report Facebook censoring, and I've reported them three times now. I don't put a lot of expectation in that, I knew it was probably worthless but I did it anyway. Here's the link if anyone needs or wants to use it:
https://onlinecensorship.org/
This went on for days, in fact it's still going on. I was able to post a notice on Facebook that it looks like I'm losing my Facebook account, with a brief explanation.
Then my daughter called me from Connecticut and I told her what was happening. She spent a lot of time with me trying various things, but it was when she went to my blog and tried to share a post onto her Facebook, the message came up. So. It's the blog. That's what they're blocking. Where I spend most of my time. Of course. If Satan wanted to hurt me, that's where he could hurt me the most.
Then we experimented some more and found that most of the Facebook posts they were blocking were any that contained a blog link. I found that I can post text, but not any with a link.
Next morning I changed the URL of my blog, and it seemed to work. I posted, and no message came up. Then I posted again ...and there came the message. Even after changing the URL - they were still blocking me. Didn't make sense, and still doesn't.
My friends on Facebook offered all kinds of tips and advice, and I followed them all, starting with making my Facebook page private, for "friends only." I HATED to do that, because all I post is Christ-centered, and it's meant to reach out to a lost and dying world. My prayer every single morning is that the Lord will direct the posts to people who need them. In my mind the only way to do that was to make them public - otherwise, I'm preaching to the choir because almost everyone on my friends list is already a believer. But you do what you have to do, and I had to remove my posts from public to friends only and my only hope is that friends will share them so the Lord can direct them to whoever he would use them with.
But the problem continued, and many friends were telling me that someone is reporting me, that's why I'm being blocked. So ...how to find one person in 3,700 who might be reporting me and effectively shutting down my ministry?
First, I withdrew from every Facebook group I was in - groups whose combined numbers are over a million members. Talk about painful. But someone from those public groups was most likely targeting me. So I had to withdraw from them all.
Next, I'm in the process of going through my 3,700 friends list and removing all those guys from Asia and Africa who I naively allowed onto my friends list over the years. Next, I've made a list of all on my friends list who interact with me either by "liking" posts or leaving comments. And today I posted a notice that I'm deleting those who don't interact with me, BUT ...if anyone on my list only reads and doesn't like or comment, but wants to stay on my list, let me know. Many have responded - some from people I haven't heard from in a long, long time.
My Scripture reading is in Philippians 1, which I'm convinced God put into the Bible just for me, because it SO addresses what I'm going through:
vs 12:
But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel...
vs 13-14:
...it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
vs 27-28:
...that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries ( ! ! ! ) which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God.
vs 29-30
For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.
You know, I've read that before, but today it appears when I really need to hear it, as confirmation and encouragement that this is the normal Christian life.
So, there you have it. A chapter in my book, I guess.
Anyone who thinks to follow the Lord Jesus Christ must first count the cost, because there IS going to be a cost. Those who suffer with him will reign with him (2 Tim 2:12), but you can't remove the suffering from the equation. There are many Scriptures telling us that if we want to follow him we have to pick up our CROSS and follow him (Luke 9:23). What is a cross? It's what people die on.
So why would anyone want to do that?
For the joy set before him.
"...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, WHO FOR THE JOY THAT WAS SET BEFORE HIM endured the cross, despising the shame..." Hebrews 12:1-2
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