.@Facebook Put them back NOW! https://t.co/eLgs5viXKp
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 1, 2020
New Jersey Women for Trump, a Facebook group with over 29,000 members, was summarily removed from the platform without warning or explanation yesterday.
Priscilla Confrey, co-director of the group, says Facebook has not sent her any notifications about the removal or explained why the group was removed.
Several media outlets have attempted to reach out to the social media giant but Facebook has not returned requests for comment.
The removal has angered many, including President Trump himself who demanded the group be reinstated immediately. “Put them back NOW!” the President posted on Twitter early this morning.
“People are really, really mad,” Confrey says. “When you have that many people and they’re shut down, they feel silenced.”
Confrey says Facebook has flagged several of the groups’ posts, including those related to Covid19. She says when that happens she simply deletes those posts in an effort to comply with policies.
“It was a lot of work over the past year for a private group to just be shut down without notification,” Confrey says. “Three days before Election Day? That is absolutely appalling. I just think these companies, these social media groups, have too much power. They offer to you to open up a group on their social media platform, and you could have 30,000 members, and they shut it down without telling you anything.”
Confrey has reached out to legislators in an attempt to exert pressure on the company. In the meantime, the group has started another group called NJWT. You can find that group here.