Tsū Protests Facebook Ban With Collective Pleas & A Poem Parody

by Ron Callari

Facebook enacted a ban on Tsu links back in October. It was an historic position to take, as it pitted a social media Goliath against a young ‘David’ upstart. The words ‘bullying,’ 'censorship' and a myriad number of other descriptors have been levied by bloggers and thought leaders as a result. But the most vocal group to protest were those maligned themselves, namely the users or Tsuvians as they are likened to be called.

Collective Plea

On November 1, a ‘Collective Plea’ was generated by several hundred Tsuvians, where the following posts appeared on their Facebook profile pages.

It was a direct response to the error message that popped up every time any one tried to post a Tsu link. In that pop-up, Facebook provide its users with the opportunity to question why their post containing the link was removed.

The error message (as seen here) noted == IF YOU THINK YOU’RE SEEING THIS BY MISTAKE, PLEASE LET US KNOW ==.

Based on that direction, protesters were quick to ‘share and post’ a plea to hopefully get founder Mark Zuckerberg and his team to react in a public address publicly and on the site

The plea included the hashtag, #WereLettingYouKnow as a res

ponse to the PLEASE LET US KNOW noted in the pop-up.

From there, the protesters did the following to amplify their protests:

Tagged their friends and followers on Tsu and Facebook
Posted to their GROUP and other PAGES
Clicked on the Hyperlink in the ERROR MESSAGE and told FB the’d like them to stop the BAN on Tsu
Wrote Blogs like this one about this ‘Collective Plea’
Posted the 'Collective Plea' on LinkedIn, G+, Pinterest, Empire Ave, Tumblr and a number of their other social networks.

Poem Parody

Since we are moving into the holiday season, the Collective Plea was then followed up by a poem written by myself [aka the Social Media Scientist]. As a parody, it satirized Dr. Seuss’ iconic poem, ‘How the Grinch that stole Christmas,’ and renamed ’How the Zuck Banned Tsu.’

How the Zuck Banned Tsu
^{By the Social Media Scientist}

^{Every Tsuvian down in Tsuville likes Tsu a lot,
But the Zuck who lives just West of Tsuville did not!

The Zuck dis-LIKED Tsu from season to season!
Now, please don’t ask why. No one quite knew the reason.

It could be, perhaps, that Tsu paid its users!
It could be because the Zuck thought users were losers!

But I think the most likely reason of all,
The Zuck didn’t LIKE a big idea coming from something so small.

But, whatever the reason, their smarts or their banks,
The Zuck wasn’t going to let them shine, thanks but no thanks!

Staring down at them from his Valley of Silicons,
He thought - time to stop them somehow, those Tsu citizens!

The Zuck devised a plan - it would take some spying,
But imperative to keep Tsuvians from multiplying.

Then he got an idea! An awful idea!
That Zuck got an incredulous, awful idea!

"I know just what to do!" The Zuck gurgled in his throat.
I'll appear Grinch-like with a Santa hat and a coat."

“I’ll show ‘em the world’s too small for both of us to fit.
“It’s I who’s got the power to banish them, lickety-split!”

We learnt that ole Zuck was smarmier than slick was slick,
He thought up a lie, and he thought it up quick!

“I’ll say those Tsuvians didn’t follow my terms of service.”
I’ll say this because SPAM makes most common folk nervous!”

So, he banned all Tsu links, past, present and yet-to-be seen,
He cleaned his plate clean of Tsu, as if we had never been!

"Out, Out Tsuvians!” he spat grinchily humming.
They’ll find out it’s true, no more links are forthcoming!

So, did it work? Did that ban stop Tsu from strumming?
No joke, Tsu just kept on chugging - Tsu just kept on humming!

Yup, every Tsuvian down in Tsuville, the tall and the small,
Kept creating post after post, without any FB links at all.

“Zuck, while you make a fine Grinch,” Sebastian said with a grin.
Users ain’t losers ~ and in Tsuville, everything’s always a win-win!”}

The Jury is Still Out

The jury is still out, whether or not these tactics are enough to reverse the ban. Ironically, as timing would have it, Facebook banned another group. Without giving any warning, Facebook deleted the Facebook fan page for the world renowned hactivist organization, known as ‘Anonymous .'

Again this action seemed incongruous with a ‘free and open source’ environment, social media has been known to engender. Particularly in the case of a group that is attempting to expose and report the malevolent actions of the terrorist group ISIS.

In step with the ban on Tsu, the explanation censoring Anonymous was said to be due to the “violation” of Facebook's Terms of Service (TOS).

Even though it’s doubtful this is the actual reason in either case, it does appear that Facebook is holding fast to its decisions in both instances.

However, when and if reversals do occur, we will be the first to report back. In the meantime, we rely on our fellow Tsuvians and citizen journalists to stay vigilant in your fight to see Tsu reinstated. Mr. Zuckerberg, consider yourself on notice... #WereLettingYouKnow .

For more on the Facebook Ban of Tsu, please see my previous post, “Facebook’s Double Standard: Blocks Tsu While Incentivizing Their Own.”

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