While congress is investigating social media, including Facebook for its effects on children, including influencing child suicide, there is another aspect of Facebook that should be looked into. It’s saying that some postings violate community standards.

I am against being judged by computers, but it appears that Facebook does that. There were two postings which were instantaneously flagged as violating community standards. In one case, there was a posting about banned books. I posted a comment wondering if it would result in higher sales. That was flagged instantly. In another case, there was a mug with a company logo. It was the company my father worked for until he retired. I commented “Nice Mug.” That was instantly flagged as violating community standards.

In neither case was there an explanation why they violated community standards nor a place to explain my comment. Before the pandemic there was a facility to explain and a human reading my explanation agreed with me and removed the flag. This slipshod judging by computers needs to end.