On December 28, Franklin Graham posted on Facebook that his page had been banned for 24 hours over a 2016 post he made regarding a North Carolina House bill, known as the “Bathroom Bill” where he criticized Bruce Springsteen for canceling his concert in North Carolina over the passage of the bill.

Graham posts,

Well, now we know. Facebook has a secret rulebook for policing speech. I was banned from posting on Facebook last week for 24 hours. Why? Because of a post from back in 2016 about North Carolina’s House Bill 2 (the bathroom bill). Facebook said the post went against their “community standards on hate speech.” Facebook is trying to define truth. There was a character in a movie a few years back who said, “The truth is what I say it is!” That’s what Facebook is trying to do. They’re making the rules and changing the rules. Truth is truth. God made the rules and His Word is truth. Actually, Facebook is censoring free speech. The free exchange of ideas is part of our country’s DNA.

Since Facebook took down the 2016 post last week, I’ll copy it here so you can read it for yourself. Do you see any hate speech here?

April 9, 2016— “Bruce Springsteen, a long-time gay rights activist, has cancelled his North Carolina concert. He says the NWell, now we know. Facebook has a secret rulebook for policing speech. I was banned from posting on Facebook last week for 24 hours. Why? Because of a post from back in 2016 about North Carolina’s House Bill 2 (the bathroom bill). Facebook said the post went against their “community standards on hate speech.” Facebook is trying to define truth. There was a character in a movie a few years back who said, “The truth is what I say it is!” That’s what Facebook is trying to do. They’re making the rules and changing the rules. Truth is truth. God made the rules and His Word is truth. Actually, Facebook is censoring free speech. The free exchange of ideas is part of our country’s DNA.

Since Facebook took down the 2016 post last week, I’ll copy it here so you can read it for yourself. Do you see any hate speech here?

“April 9, 2016— “Bruce Springsteen, a long-time gay rights activist, has cancelled his North Carolina concert. He says the NC law #HB2 to prevent men from being able to use women’s restrooms and locker rooms is going “backwards instead of forwards.” Well, to be honest, we need to go back! Back to God. Back to respecting and honoring His commands. Back to common sense. Mr. Springsteen, a nation embracing sin and bowing at the feet of godless secularism and political correctness is not progress. I’m thankful North Carolina has a governor, Pat McCrory, and a lieutenant governor, Dan Forest, and legislators who put the safety of our women and children first! HB2 protects the safety and privacy of women and children and preserves the human rights of millions of faith-based citizens of this state.” C law #HB2 to prevent men from being able to use women’s restrooms and locker rooms is going “backwards instead of forwards.” Well, to be honest, we need to go back! Back to God. Back to respecting and honoring His commands. Back to common sense. Mr. Springsteen, a nation embracing sin and bowing at the feet of godless secularism and political correctness is not progress. I’m thankful North Carolina has a governor, Pat McCrory, and a lieutenant governor, Dan Forest, and legislators who put the safety of our women and children first! HB2 protects the safety and privacy of women and children and preserves the human rights of millions of faith-based citizens of this state.” 

On December 31, Facebook issued an apology to Graham, stating that they “had made a mistake” and banned his page inappropriately and that it “did not go against their community standards.”

See screenshot below:

Graham offered his appreciation stating, “Thank you to Facebook for the apology, the admission that my April 9, 2016 post didn’t go against your Community Standards, and the corrective action taken.”

The problem, however, isn’t that Facebook may slip up occasionally. Franklin Graham is big and well-known. Though he’s a conservative–someone that the left-wing corporate giants like Facebook hates–he still has a large base and connections. Someone like Franklin Graham can have his page restored because of the publicity.

But small-timers–individuals and small businesses–really hold no chance. Facebook can censor them all day long and get away with it, because nobody cares.

The real mistake that Facebook made wasn’t in banning someone who said something that didn’t really go against their community standards. You can rest assured that Facebook still hates what Graham said. The real mistake is that they did so too soon.

Facebook and other corporate censorship giants are testing the waters to see how much the public will accept in their censorship game, and it was simply one bad move in the big monopoly game.