When will Meta pull the plug on someone representing the United States at the Paralympic Games in Paris, which start later this month?
When their sport uses a gun, of course.
According to a Wall Street Journal report late last month, McKenna Geer, a member of the U.S. team, will be competing in the air rifle event. However, last month, she said she was censored for posting about shooting-related things. Which, as you know, people who shoot for sport are known to do.
Geer, 28, has a condition known as amyoplasia arthrogryposis, which affects the muscles. You’d think that Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta — which runs Facebook and Instagram among its social media holdings — would read the room in terms of shadow-banning her. You’d be wrong.
“Earlier this month, Ms. Geer shared a photo on Instagram of the air rifle she used to qualify for the Paralympic Games,” the Journal reported on July 24.
“The company flagged the photo as out of line with its guidelines and informed her that nonfollowers wouldn’t be able to view her account or content in Instagram’s search, explore suggested users or similar features.”
The company’s explanation?
“Our Recommendations Guidelines help to promote content that fosters a safe community on Instagram,” it said.
Geer, who apparently knew this was a possibility, took to Instagram on July 17 to write about Meta’s decision.
“I have always feared the day the media would censor my sport and speech just because I use firearms,” she wrote. “That day has finally come.”
“This sport is life-changing because of its ability to unite both able-bodied and disabled athletes, young and old, foreign and domestic,” she continued.
“Me and my fellow athletes rely on our social media accounts to spread the word about our sport, firearm safety, build our personal brand, and connect with potential sponsors. Many of us (myself included) are either not paid or paid very little for our involvement in this sport. Our social media presence can often be the avenue that pays for us to continue competing.”
She added that she “will not be accepting this without a fight. I need your help. I need your comments and support.”
Sadly, this isn’t uncommon, as you’ve probably noticed if you’ve followed any of the memes involving Yusuf Dikec, the Turkish shooter who went viral for looking for all the world like John Wick and winning a medal while shooting with his hand in his pocket.
While everyone seemed to think that Dikec was the epitome of awesome, they also seemed to noticeably leave out a certain part of the shot in memes about Dikec — which tended to compare him to the other competitors in the air pistol field, who also used guns (duh) but tended toward more specialized equipment.
This is one random edition, for instance, from a Formula 1 memes page I follow. The comparison at the bottom is between two F1 racers who use considerably different technology while sim racing on their computers; one uses an elaborate racing-like rig while the other just uses a controller. That’s not the important part, though. I picked it because it illustrates an important thing about Meta’s priorities:
The guns, as you’ll notice, are edited out. It’s worth noting that guns at the Olympics have killed fewer people during shooting events (zero) than F1 drivers killed in cars during F1 races (32). This is also less than the number of people killed at the Olympics by snow machines (one), polio (one), and Palestinian terrorist organizations (11).
You can find plenty of Formula 1 cars on Facebook and Instagram. It’s not difficult to find information about snow machines or polio if you so want to; this isn’t shadow-banned or censored from the social media platforms. Neither is support for Palestinian terrorist organizations — far from it, as those who have been on either platform since Oct. 7 of last year can very sadly attest to.
But guns? Not so fast, Olympian! And when you’re the biggest viral success of the Paris Olympics and people still need to visually bleep out your gun, that’s a bad sign for the McKenna Geers of the world.
Has Meta gone too far?
“By silencing an athlete’s voice, you infringe not only on their freedom of expression but subtly on their right to bear arms as well, as these platforms are critical for educating and sharing the legitimate and safe use of firearms in sport,” said Kelly Reisdorf, CEO of USA Shooting.
And then, shortly after Geer announced that her account had been cleared, she said she was being shadow-banned again:
And while that was cleared, too, this is more about a bad omen regarding what’s to come.
If these are the teeth that need to be pulled for a Paralympian to appear on Facebook and Instagram, what hope do the rest of us have? If you’re just an average Joe fighting for your constitutional rights, not much, particularly if you want to include a firearm in your post.
This would be ridiculous, and it is — but the consequences behind the message being sent are dire ones indeed. The point is that they can shut anyone up, and they want to make sure you remember that. McKenna Geer may be more talented and visible than most people who read this, but we’re all McKenna Geers to Meta. Obey or else.
