Is Facebook Choosing to Self-Censor to Please Trump?
If so, we are in much more dangerous territory than we thought...
After recently publishing my first book, The Persuasion Game, I decided to promote it on Facebook. What happened next baffled me. Facebook’s algorithm blocked my advertisement. Now, my book is not promoting sex, drugs, or gratuitous violence. No, my book is about corruption in the US government during Donald Trump’s first presidential term.
One central theme is how foreign influence operations found willing partners in the United States to promote their clandestine interests. There is also a years-long pattern of evidence suggesting that Rudy Giuliani, the President’s former private lawyer, had used his access to the White House to promote corrupt interests within the Oval Office. The ramifications of such go well beyond the criminal realms, and into national security and geopolitics. Giuliani’s actions were partially revealed to the American public during Trump’s first impeachment, but the true depth of the graft may have been so damaging to Donald Trump, that it likely led to his and Giuliani’s attempts to overturn the 2020 US presidential election.
The book is not a political hit piece with inane “he said” or “she said” anonymous comments but instead built on the foundation of rigorous research done over 4 years using news reports, congressional documents, criminal indictments, and articles from investigative journalists. The bibliography has almost 3,300 endnotes and due to the nature of the content, was vetted by multiple lawyers prior to publication.
After Facebook refused to accept the ad, my marketing team fiddled with the language, trying variants to satiate the algorithm. In the end, the team had to blur the subtitle of the book which includes the word “Trump” to get it past the automated censors. At that point, I had to question the value of promoting it on the platform, as whether by accident or design, Facebook’s algorithms censored political speech to protect the President of the United States from some very real questions. In America, one would of course expect Facebook to curb the ever-growing disinformation content found there, not fearing the wrath of the President of the United States.
Both corporate and individual self-censorship in fear of government retribution is a clear sign of growing unchecked authoritarianism. I wrote about such actions by the governments of Russia and Turkey in my book. In Russia, public criticism of Vladimir Putin comes with the price of direct retribution from the state. See the imprisonment and death of Putin critic Alexi Navalny as a prime example. In Turkey, one can be prosecuted by the state if he or she publicly criticizes its president. Thousands have already been charged. In both cases, the leaders of the two governments actively use their legal systems to suppress free speech, suffocate independent media, and stifle political opposition. I see that it is happening now in America. Donald Trump and his henchmen have repeatedly attacked the independence of law firms, media companies, and universities, with some institutions buckling over from the weight of the attacks from the government. Both Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter) have already settled questionable lawsuits by the President.
Today, a sense of fear permeates American politics, creating an environment of self-censorship among some. Putting aside the corrupt acts laid out in The Persuasion Game, I presciently closed the book with a warning that if Donald Trump was reelected, the United States might fall under the spell of an authoritarian demagogue willing to shred the constitution for the sake of his own power and grandeur, like what has happened in Russia and Turkey. Facebook’s advertising censorship of my book suggests we are much further down the road toward an autocratic America where the rich and powerful are the only ones with freedom of speech.
Also, check out my new book, The Persuasion Game, on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
"There hasn't been a better, detailed, and dazzling portrayal of the political corruption in Trump's administration. This one is truly eye-opening..." — Readers' Favorite