Why I was banned by Facebook –Journalist

Renowned international investigative Cameroonian journalist, Simon Ateba, has explained why he was recently banned from Facebook.

The Washington DC based editor-in-chief of online news website, Today News Africa, said the action was taken because he allegedly posted an ‘indecent’ video posted on his news site.

However, he also expressed his dismay at being suspended three months out of seven in just this year alone.

Ateba, in a response to a Sunday Telegraph enquiry, directed us to his webside where he indicated that he has been a victim of the Facebook police more than once which according to him, is an algorithm that targets words like “sex”, “erection” and the likes.

He argued that once the software picks up such words, one is suspended without review. In his opinion, he doesn’t think Facebook has anything against him but is just trying to maintain some decency on the App. He went further to say that he had appealed the suspension and Facebook has promised to look into it but that the reviews take very long as there are literally billions to go through.

However, Ateba had questions of his own which he admitted he had no answers to.

“How far are we willing to allow machines and software companies determine what we publish? Who determines what is decent and what is not? What is the biggest danger of being ruled by machines?” he asked on his site.

Apparently, the fact that he had shared the video in contention from another source and been suspended when the original sources were not, may have informed him asking these questions.