Facebook suspends TeleSUR English’s page, solidarity gets it restored

August 17, 2018
Issue 

For the second time this year, Facebook suspended TeleSUR English’s page on August 13, Common Dreams said the next day.

After supports of the left-wing Latin American site campaigned against the removal, Facebook restored it on August 15, TeleSUR English said that day.

The social media giant claimed the left-leaning Latin American news network violated the social media platform’s terms of service, without any further explanation. The move provoked outrage and concern among journalists, free speech advocates and Big Tech critics.

When the page was restored, Facebook offered vague explanations, TeleSUR English said, citing “instability on the platform” and saying the move was to “protect” the page after “suspicious activity” was detected.

When its page was deleted, the Venezuelan-based regional news network wrote: “This is an alarming development in light of the recent shutting down of pages that don't fit a mainstream narrative.”  

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