WDC Disables Comments on its Facebook Page
This post describes evidence of censorship, that was censored. Here’s an example of interactions I’ve had with our local newspaper editors - the recently closed-down Te Awamutu Courier (run by New Zealand Media & Entertainment Ltd) (NZME) and Te Awamutu News (an independent).
One of the last articles I ever read in Te Awamutu Courier was a 2024 article (online version paywalled here) about how WDC claimed they had been ‘forced’ to turn off comments on their Facebook page because of an “uprising of disrespect towards staff” including “name-calling”. WDCs decision to censor residents who pay their salaries, has not gone down well.
The Censorship Industrial Complex has caused much confusion over recent years. There is so much propaganda it’s almost impossible to discern truth from lies. WDC staff themselves are confused and often struggle to defend unsupported claims made on Facebook posts. Inevitably, comments posted by ratepayers are likely to include some uncomfortable knowledge and inconvenient truths. One particular Elephant in the Room is the global economic recession. As Better Waipa points out, WDC has significant financial vulnerabilities because of high levels of debt, increased cost of living, job redundancies and mortgage interest rates.
So, I sent this Letter to Te Awamutu Courier Editor, Dean Taylor.
Dear Dean,
Re: ‘Council forced to silence Facebook’ 9 May 2024
We value the important work of [Waipa] Council, which claims its 2024 vision is “Building Connected Communities”. This surely means welcoming open and honest communication? In my experience, most Waipa ratepayers are respectful, intelligent citizens who care deeply about their communities. I’m confident that only a few Waipa residents who follow the council’s Facebook page might be interpreted as sometimes being abusive or rude. I wonder what’s preventing the council staff (skilled in social media communications) from recording these few individuals and blocking them?
Prohibiting comments on any council posts on their Facebook page seems counter-productive and is not a feasible solution. When ratepayers’ responses to Council’s posts are missing, Council’s social media activity could be seen as waste of valuable staff time, our funds and resources. This is especially worrying for us during escalating costs of living and a global economic recession.
History teaches us that silencing the majority due to a few dissident voices is never an ethical or appropriate solution. Council may not yet be aware that illegal censorship of scientific facts by Government, Meta (the company that owns Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp) and other social media giants is currently the subject of multiple international court cases? Curiously, these cases have themselves been widely censored (except by independent media). Maybe that’s why realitycheck.radio has successfully crowdfunded hundreds of thousands of dollars to secure its future stability as a free-speech forum?
I personally know Community Board representatives who understand the reasons why some ratepayers may feel frustrated and angry because they are unheard. I sincerely hope that Council can find positive ways to listen to and engage with their citizens’ genuine concerns in the difficult times ahead.”
The response I got was slightly disconcerting, and not totally unexpected. The Editor claimed the newspaper’s ‘Legal Guardians’ [guardians of whom?] wanted to delete the three sentences bolded above, unless I could provide evidence:
Orwell’s Thought Police are real: the media aimed to censor a letter about censorship that provided evidence of the censorship. I sent Dean three examples of many:
Murthy v Missouri: Ongoing US Court action against the Biden Administration during the covid era censorship of social media by a group of very senior academics (including Stanford University). Full court documents available here. (For added context, I highly recommend reading bestselling author, Michael Shellenberger's full affidavit for the original hearing, available here)
Meta v District of Columbia: Overview of ONE of the cases against Meta and illegal censorship. Full court documents available here.
Group Action litigation against YouTube and Meta by censored podcasters in Canada. (includes hyperlinks to court documents within).
The following week, my Letter to the Editor was published, but inevitably, the ‘offending’ three sentences were edited out.
What about our so-called ‘independent’ newspaper. Would it publish my letter in full? I called Roy Pilott, Editor of Te Awamutu News. When asked about WDC Facebook posts censoring comments, he said he didn’t have any views about that, because WDCs marketing effectively placed them as a direct competitor. He refused to publish anything that mentions WDCs Facebook page.
Roy’s concept of censorship appears to be the same as Government propaganda - i.e. that there are ‘dangerous’ ‘harmful’ or ‘prejudiced’ hate-speech extremists out there who needed to be stopped. He told me censorship “only applied to global issues, nothing to do with our little town.” If only that was the case.
I returned to Dean Taylor, to ask if he would publish a follow-up to my censored letter about censorship. I got this four-word response:
“It will be censored”
There was no exclamation mark or emoji to acknowledge his inherent irony.
WDC and the media it funds wouldn’t need to censor its own citizens, if it was focusing on providing basic services and transparency. Candidates supported by Better Waipa aim to foster a welcoming space for open dialogue, where community members can connect, share ideas, and make their voices count.
