By: Patricia Tolson
While high profile Twitter accounts for such people as Donald Trump, Gateway Pundit founder Jim Hoft and conservative radio host Wayne Allyn Root have been shut down in the rise of cancel culture, average citizens are also finding their voices silenced for expressing opinions deemed unacceptable by those in charge of the kill-switch.
There are few among us who don’t know someone who had their Facebook account suspended for daring to post something someone else didn’t like. Now the popular community social media platform “Nextdoor” moves to silence thy neighbor if they dare to express opinions deemed unfavorable by other members.
“Your group, America Under Siege was recently reported by members of the Nextdoor community for promoting misinformation related to the US election, COVID-19, the US Census,” the Feb. 17 email from a moderator named Jack.
“We’ve reviewed the group and have determined that it violates our group guidelines. As a result, we’ve permanently removed it from the platform.”
This was a private group. To gain access to the group’s forum you had to request and receive my approval. No one was forcing these “members” to be part of a group that expressed opinions they didn’t agree with. They read the description of the group and chose to be there. So, rather than move on to a group that shares their views, they chose to shut me and the other members of America Under Siege down.
“I am disappointed,” I told Jack, “that you have bowed to the thought police and are participating in the cancel culture movement to silence free speech.”
The thing is, from the moment I read that email I suspected the removal of my group had more to do with my house than anything I said on the forum.
You see, prior to the 2020 election I hung a 3’x 8’ banner on my fence that said: “Trump 2020. Promises Made. Promises Kept.” Shortly after, someone covered the banner with a library of vulgarities in brown spray paint. My response? I spent three hours cleaning the paint off the banner, rehung it on the fence and spent the following two weeks painting a mural on the entire north side of my house that included an American Flag and a larger-than-life image of Donald Trump.
Since then, I have been doxed, harassed and threatened with physical harm through social media. People have threatened to vandalize my mural and even to burn my house down… with me in it. Some woman who said she saw my house on the news in San Francisco, California was so triggered by my mural she actually took the time to purchase, stamp and mail a sympathy card to my house telling me precisely what she thinks of Donald Trump and me for having the audacity to support him.
It’s frightening. But backing down from bullies only encourages them to take more from you.
Since the election I have had many people ask when I was going to paint over it. I’m not. In fact, it was the day after I shared a picture of the new mural revision with the members of my group that America Under Siege was shut down.
The next email I received from Nextdoor confirmed my suspicion.
“Hi Patricia & Tom,” the new moderator named Shannon began. “Your case was escalated to me for review. I understand you have concerns about why your America Under Siege group was removed from Nextdoor.”
“Escalated”? That group was there since the Black Lives Matter riots began, which was the inspiration for the group to begin with. But since some “members” in my neighborhood realized the person who painted the mural they’ve been hating is the one who started America Under Siege, my “case was escalated” for “review”?
“As background,” Shannon explained, “Nextdoor may remove groups if the admins of a group fail to moderate group posts in accordance with Community Guidelines.”
“Your group was specifically removed for failure to moderate a large number of Misinformation posts,” Shannon explained.
“Below are a few examples of posts from your group that violated Guidelines and were removed by our Support team:
Working on a mural update
Patricia & Tom Rummel Feb 16, 2021 5:06 PM
To those who have been wondering what I am going to do with the mural on my house since Democrats in certain states stole the election…
This shows the new version of my 2020 version…”
Bingo! Of course, they will try to claim my commentary about Democrats stealing the election qualifies as “misinformation.” But that opinion – while denied, not “debunked” — is not described as being disallowed in their guidelines.
“Our Community Guidelines prohibit posts that are Misinformation,” Shannon reiterated anyway, and she provided a link where I could “read more about this “in their “Help Center.” So, I did. Let’s review.
Nextdoor’s election misinformation policy prohibits the following:
- False or misleading information that could prevent or discourage people from voting, cause their votes not to be counted, or interfere with the election process.
- Messages that call for or could incite interference with the vote counting process.
- False or misleading claims about the results of an election that could lead to interference with the election process.
- Messages that call for or could incite violence to prevent a peaceful transfer of power or orderly succession.
How did my post “prevent or discourage people from voting, cause their votes not to be counted, or interfere with the election process”? The election is over, and Biden was sworn in over a month ago. How did anything I say “lead to interference with the election process” or have the potential to “incite violence to prevent a peaceful transfer of power or orderly succession”?
Shannon also informed me that a post wherein I shared a link to a New York Times article violated their guidelines as well.
In that article, Mitch McConnel expressed how “pleased” he was that the House was seeking to impeach Trump. Turns out, McConnel was afraid Trump will try to take over the Republican Party.
“Donald Trump doesn’t want the Republican Party,” I said. “He doesn’t NEED the Republican Party. Spineless, backstabbing politicians like McConnel killed it years ago. That’s why people like me voted for Trump.”
Again. The election is over. How did anything I say exceed the boundaries of their guidelines – as written — regarding elections?
Another example Shannon provided was the post of a Jan. 26 post where I shared a link to a Sept. 9, 2020 story by PJ Media’s Matt Margolis titled, “The Obama Administration killed more people than COVID-19.”
“As background,” here are Nextdoor’s forbidden post topics regarding COVID-19.
- False or misleading claims and conspiracy theories about COVID-19, including its causes, cures, and prevention methods;
- False or misleading information that could prevent or discourage people from receiving COVID-19 testing, treatment or COVID-19 vaccines;
- Messages that call for or could interfere with the legitimate distribution of COVID-19 testing or COVID-19 vaccines, including fraudulent information around the distribution, safety or efficacy of vaccinations.
That PJ Media story pointed out that the “scaremongering campaign against hydroxychloroquine, a drug Trump touted as a potential game-changer back in March, could have saved thousands of lives had they not turned public opinion against the drug simply because Trump had brought attention to it…” The article even provided a link to a French study that concluded “countries that are widely using the drug early to treat patients have much lower death rates than those that aren’t.” A study published by Henry Ford Health System in June 2020 showed the same thing, as did a Hackensack Meridian Health study in January 2021. But hey. The hard numbers from one man’s clinical studies are another man’s “misinformation.”
Since when did it become acceptable for someone to shut someone else down just because they disagree with them? And who are “they” anyway? What gives “them” the right to decide what is and is not acceptable speech? Who gave “them” the power to determine the difference between “misinformation” and truth, and who gave them the authority to strip the First Amendment rights from anyone they disagree with?
As the old saying goes: “Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile.” These self-appointed dictators of Cancel Culture are no longer satisfied with simply silencing speech they disagree with. Now they want to destroy anyone who dares to say something they deem unacceptable. Just ask Nicholas Sandman or Mike Lindell.
Who will be next? You?
Check out the ‘Cancel Corner‘, a new section launched where we report on the latest Cancel Cases and stories from around the globe.
Freedom of speech is alive and well. There are lots of rebels in America, thankfully.
I too have been permanently banned from Nd for posting the truth. Here in CA there are so many out of control “ ultra liberal leads” one source is with the initials CP in El Dorado Hills. Another friend lead had kept all his out of control posts and forwarded to Nd for review, what was done?? Nothing. Nd is just another woke liberal censoring social media site. I have to say being off Nd has made me a different person, happier and less stressful not having to deal with these idiots!