KENT, Ohio — For more than three weeks, the League of Women Voters Kent chapter has been locked out of its Facebook page. While the group leverages other modes of informing voters, it remains puzzled over why the page was suspended at all.
“We are a nonpartisan organization, so our information out there is really promoting voting and voting rights and just information about where to vote, some of basic information and guidelines that voters might not have,” explained chapter president Sherry Rose.
She told News 5 the page was disabled on the eve of the March 19 primary election. Facebook’s parent company, Meta, did not provide the group with a specific explanation about what prompted the suspension or how to restore access.
“They said we did not [abide by] something with the code of standards. So we’re not sure at this time,” Rose said.
According to the League of Women Voters national organization, at least eight chapters around the country have requested support to have their pages reinstated.
“Voters rely on the social media accounts of trusted sources in their communities like their local Leagues,” said LWV press secretary Shannon Augustus in a statement to News 5. “It is troubling that local League Facebook pages have been suspended so close to elections, which harms the voters looking for accurate election information on the social media platform.”
Meta did not respond to News 5’s request for clarification on its policies before publication of this article Friday.
“Facebook is a private company. It’s their bat and their ball and their field and they can pretty much do what they want here,” said Jonathan Entin, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University.
He explained some have accused Meta of being too hasty in removing posts or suspending pages that other Facebook users have flagged. Courts are reviewing laws passed in both Texas and Florida that prohibit the company from “political censorship.”
“Officials in Texas and Florida have said that they believe that the social media companies are somehow censoring conservatives,” Entin explained. “The question really is whether the social media companies, which are private companies, should be held to the same legal standards as the government is held to.”
The LWV Kent chapter created a new Facebook page this week. And leaders there say they haven’t stopped informing voters on a variety of platforms and methods.
“The League of Women Voters is 104. We were here long before Facebook. So we know how to work that system and get information out to the voters,” Rose said.
According to Meta’s website, users can request a review of suspended content and appeal to an oversight board if they object to the company’s decision.
