Censorship at its finest: Facebook removes page for DC Freedom Convoy

By maryvillarealdw // 2022-02-07

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American truckers slammed Facebook for removing their protest and organizing page, called "Convoy to D.C. 2022." It serves as a place for truckers to coordinate their trek from California to Washington D.C. as they protest against vaccine mandates. The "Freedom Convoy" was started by Canadian truckers and is garnering attention and support worldwide, with Americans and Australians already joining in. The organizer of the American leg, Jeremy Johnson, said Facebook's move is "censorship at its finest," adding that his personal account has also been removed. "They like to silence people that speak the truth," he said of the ban. He also contacted a civil rights attorney to discuss the next steps. A spokesperson for Facebook's parent company, Meta, told Fox News that they removed the group's page for repeatedly violating policies around QAnon, which they labeled as a "violence-inducing conspiracy network" in October 2020. They also announced then that any group pages and admins tied to QAnon will be removed. (Related: 50,000 truckers storm Ottawa to demand end to covid "vaccine" mandates.) Brian Brase, an event co-organizer, disputed Facebook's characterization of the group. "That's not true," he said, adding that they have not been given the option to remove content and request a review like what Facebook does with other administrators. "They literally wiped Mike Landis and Jeremy completely out of Facebook. They don't even have a profile anymore, so how are you supposed to request a review or remove anything?" he asked. Landis, who is a trucker involved in the freedom convoy, said the movement is "a long time coming," as Americans are now tired of the "government overreach." He criticized politicians for not following the constitution. "The presence of that amount of people that show that they are unhappy with what’s going on is a good way to hopefully get their attention." Johnson and Brase anticipate a wide range of Americans to support their cause, saying that it crosses all genders, races, sexual orientations and occupations. While the truckers are the ones standing up, Brase said that it's not just about them, it's about America. (Related: Canadian PM Justin Trudeau calls citizens, truckers protesting vaccine mandate "fringe" minority who don't share government-accepted "views".) The group aims to end vaccine mandates through peaceful protests, with Johnson saying that the government needs to take a look at what the American people want.

Group's GoFundMe account also frozen

The group's GoFundMe account has also been frozen, which means that no one can donate to the fundraiser. The already-donated funds can't be transferred anywhere, either. GoFundMe stated on the account page that the fundraiser is currently paused and under review to ensure that it complies with the terms of services and applicable laws and regulations. The site says in a statement that it wants the organizers to outline how the money (already amounting to about $7,889,500) will be spent before they can release funds. Following the second freeze of their GoFundMe account that raised over $10 million for the Canada convoy and protests, the group stated that they are no longer fundraising for the U.S. convoy effort. On their Telegram page, the group stated: "We want to be very clear that at this point, this group has no funding accounts or donation links posted. We are not collecting donations. If that changes, it will be posted here and our Facebook group. Please research who you are sending your money to if you are in other groups and make sure they are legit." The group has not yet publicly announced its routes for the protest. However, the convoy is set to originate from multiple locations in California, along with convoys from other parts of the U.S., such as Texas, Florida and Maine. The groups will converge in Washington, D.C.

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Group's GoFundMe account also frozen

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