While itās not as if Social media conglomerates need a whole lot of prodding to do Black Lives Matterās bidding, if a report published Monday is true, the national organization has been going so far as to tell platforms what news about the group they should censor.
According to New York Magazine, the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation was actively monitoring Social media for negative mentions about the group ā and when it found them, it had them taken down.
This isnāt the first time that critics of the movement have cast a dubious eye on the group regarding why certain stories about it have been censored, particularly as they pertain to the groupās finances. Here at The Western Journal, we reported on the āchillingā effects of a Facebook sharing ban last year on a Black Lives Matter-related story regarding group co-founder Patrisse Cullorsā numerous real estate purchases.
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The New York Magazine piece shone even more light on the groupās questionable real estate purchases, including a $6 million house in California purchased by the BLMGNF in cash from donations Money ā Money one assumes donors didnāt think was going to property investments.
However, there was another disturbing revelation in the story by Sean Campbell: He wrote that the group has been working to censor mentions of its questionable ethical practices on networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
The report detailed a chatroom named the āBLM Security Hubā on the secure messaging service Signal. There are roughly two-dozen participants in the room, not just from BLMGNF but other entities in its orbit.
Campbell, whoās been on the BLM beat for a while, recounted a number of conversations on the chatroom about the $6 million house, which is known internally as āCampus.ā
āOther conversations on the BLM Security Hub chat show efforts to monitor Social media for negative mentions of BLMGNF, with members using their influence with the platforms to have such remarks removed,ā he wrote.
āItās currently not possible to share the Postās article on Cullorsās home purchases on Facebook because the siteās parent company, Meta, has labeled the content āabusive.ā At other points, Bowers and his associates direct a private investigator to look into BLMGNF detractors and journalists, including me.ā
When Cullorsā real estate purchases were first reported in April 2021, the national Black Lives Matter association portrayed them as a threat to the activist.
āPatrisseās work for Black people over the years has made her and others who align with the fight for Black liberation targets of racist violence,ā the group said in a statement on Twitter.
āThe narratives being spread about Patrisse have been generated by right-wing forces intent on reducing the support and influence of a movement that is larger than any one organization,ā it said.
āThis right-wing offensive not only puts Patrisse, her child and her loved ones in harmās way, it also continues a tradition of terror by white supremacists against Black activists,ā the group said.
āAll Black activists know the fear these malicious and serious actions are meant to instill: the fear of being silenced, the trauma of being targeted, the torture of feeling oneās family is exposed to danger just for speaking out against unjust systems.ā
Facebook told the PostĀ that its ācontent was removed for violating our privacy and personal information policy.ā
āThis decision is so arbitrary as to be laughable,ā the newspaperās editorial board said at the time.
āDoes Facebook know how many newspapers, magazines and Web sites highlight the real estate purchases of the rich and famous?ā it said. āThe next time People magazine covers Kim Kardashianās latest mansion purchase, will it violate any community standards? How about running a picture of the resort Ted Cruz is staying at?ā
āIt again highlights just how much power these Social media companies have over our lives and our nation. They monopolized the market and became the main aggregators of news.ā
Once again, the New York Post was censored for being right about something ā and while its report on Cullorsā real estate binge wasnāt exactly as earth-shattering as their reports on Hunter Bidenās laptop, the concerns the report raised were just salient.
Cullors again featured in New York Magazineās report; the Black Lives Matter co-founder, who once referred to herself as a ātrained Marxist,ā allegedly used the $6 million mansion that the BLMGNF bought for dubious purposes such as recording videos for her personal YouTube channel.
The āCampusā house was also purchased by the member of a nonprofit run by the father of Cullorsā only child ā a nonprofit to which Cullors has allegedly funneled business, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported last May.
Campbell also noted that BLMGNF tried to ākillā his story about the $6 million house. The group might have a bit more trouble getting New York Magazineās story censored, however, considering the outlet is solidly left of center. Unlike the Censorship of the New York Post, there would be a hue and cry in the media if this story ended up getting shot down.
The fact Black Lives Matter has direct influence over how itās reported on Social media is chilling, however.
And yet, sadly, itās not surprising.Ā Despite being two of the biggest digital public squares in the world, Facebook and Twitter allow the left to control, to a great degree, what its opponents can say about it.
If the BLMGNF can determine how itās being portrayed, what other individuals or groups have bent the ears of Social media executives?
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
