Facebook yanks popular 'Truckers To Shut Down America' page

September 24, 2013

Despite claims that Facebook supports free speech online, the social media site unpublished the extremely popular "Truckers To Shut Down America" page after administrators wished visitors "Godspeed" and repeatedly banned an agitator, comparing him to a recurring disease, administrator Zeeda Andrews told Examiner.com in an exclusive interview Tuesday.

Andrews said the page started as part of an effort to rally truckers and inform the American people about the issues they face, specifically, federal regulations she said are having a negative impact on the health and well being of America's truckers.

According to Andrews, truckers are underpaid and suffer unbelievable labor conditions.

“This is not how the Federal government should be rewarding our hard working men and women that keep Americans well stocked and supplied on a daily basis," she said.

Andrews told Examiner she was made an administrator of the page by a friend and hoped to use her experience in the entertainment business to make the page successful. And it was.

Overnight, she said, the page became a success, attracting over 50,000 supporters in just three days.

Then, she said, "the haters and trolls came."

"After all," she added, "it is their job to spew hate, discord and blame others of what they are guilty of."

Six days after the page was founded, it was slapped for saying "God Bless America." By then, she said, the page had 82,000 "likes" and was reaching millions of people.

But, she added, the "provocateurs" kept hammering at administrators, who attempted to engage them in debate.

Andrews said she banned a "troll" who went by the name "Bubba Slade" several times, and wondered how he kept getting back on the page.

Another administrator commented: “Bubba keeps coming back like herpes.”

That, it seemed, was all it took for Facebook to unpublish the page.

"I believe our page was targeted because of our political views," she told Examiner.

In the meantime, she said, a replacement page called "Ride for the Constitution" has been created, along with a site called ridefortheconstitution.org. For Andrews, trucking and the Constitution go hand-in-hand.

"The American people are sick and tired of the corruption that is destroying America," the page declares.

This is not the first time Facebook's actions have not matched its rhetoric.

Recently, the site temporarily blocked conservative blogger Julia Sieben for thanking friends who wished her a happy birthday. Joseph L. Parker, a Christian writer for Examiner.com, was also slapped for thanking people who liked his posts.

Fed up with Facebook's arbitrary actions punishing people for innocuous posts, over 31,000 people participated in a "Facebook Blackout" event, temporarily suspending their accounts for 24 hours in late August.

One of the administrators of that event told Examiner Facebook dismissed death threats that were leveled at her on the social media site.

Andrews said Facebook's actions have made her even more determined to get her message out.

“Thank you Facebook," she said. "I would like to tell you when God stands for something, who can be against it.”

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