In a story probably familiar to the readers of this blog, Facebook has confirmed that its spam filters are responsible for the suspension of several accounts and pages run by environmental activists. Facebook denies that the bans were related to the content of the posts; instead blaming the automated algorithms that control it’s spam filter.
The problems encountered by the activists have become common as Facebook has rolled out new initiatives to fight spam. According to a post on Facebook’s blog on June 29th, the company is committed to working to correct mistakes made by the spam filters:
These systems are so effective at working in the background that most people who use Facebook will never encounter one. They’re not perfect, though, and we’re always working to improve them. We do this by actively monitoring appeals and learning from the rare cases in which we make mistakes.
However, the site does not actually monitor appeals or provide support for users dealing with this issue. Note the underlined section in the error message users receive when they try to post from a banned URL.
Additionally, users who have turned to Facebook’s own forums also receive no assistance or even any acknowledgement from the company. This inability to appeal is particularly problematic for web site owners who are trying to run businesses. Often times business owners allocate significant resources to making their websites Facebook and social media friendly. Being unable to market a site or business on Facebook is a serious problem for anyone in the new marketing environment of social networking sites.
The problems with Facebook access brings up some other issues. If so much marketing and commerce are connected to Facebook, does the company have a responsibility to be transparent and accessible to users? Facebook is a private company and can do whatever it wants, but does its positioning of itself as a hub for millions of marketing interactions mean it has to make an extra commitment to users? Additionally, maybe the problems with Facebook are an important illustration about the problems created by the continuing centralization of internet content and social media. If Google or Facebook decide you don’t exist, how do you maintain the online identity that is often required to run your business or get a job?
Here at Crasstalk our problems persist. Though some of us occasionally can post or circumvent the block, for the most part our presence has been removed from Facebook. We are sorry to our readers and writers about the situation, we know that it has created a hassle for a lot of you. We ask that you please keep filling out the form on the off chance that at some point Facebook decides to review our case. We will continue to work on this issue from our end as well.
