Get All Access for $5/mo

A Non-Profit Newspaper Published a Column Criticizing Facebook. Then Meta Blocked All of Its Posts. Facebook's communications chief said that the posts were removed because of "a mistaken security issue."

By Sherin Shibu

Key Takeaways

  • The Kansas Reflector published an opinion piece titled: "When Facebook fails, local media matters even more for our planet's future."
  • Meta blocked links to the piece, and other reporting from The Reflector, for about a day.

Meta blocked all posts from The Kansas Reflector on Thursday after the nonprofit newspaper called out Facebook, which Meta owns, and other forms of social media in an article.

The article, titled "When Facebook fails, local media matters even more for our planet's future," directly calls out Meta and Facebook for suppressing posts related to climate change and highlights the role of local media in stepping up to the plate.

"We are getting along OK without the promotional help of Facebook, but it does seem problematic that a behemoth such as Meta can dictate the terms of our communications," documentary producer Dave Kendall wrote in the opinion piece.

Related: Mark Zuckerberg Told Meta Engineers to 'Figure Out' Snapchat's Privacy Protections

According to a Friday article from The Reflector, Facebook stopped the publication from sharing Kendall's opinion piece on Thursday and then removed all links to the outlet on its platform.

Andy Stone, communications director at Meta, apologized for the mistake on Thursday and said that the error "had nothing to do with the Reflector's recent criticism of Meta." He stated that the mistake had been corrected.

On Friday, Facebook had brought back all the posts that linked to the Kansas Reflector's stories — except for anything that linked to Kendall's article, which was still down for a period of time.

By Friday night, the issue had been completely resolved and users were able to link to and view Kendall's article.

Related: Meta Is Suing a Former VP Who Left the Company for a Competing AI Startup

Independent journalist Marisa Kabas reposted the Kansas Reflector's column on Friday "in an attempt to sidestep Meta's censorship" and said that the damage had already been done: the articles had already been flagged as malicious.

"That's a big problem because that undermines our trust," Kabas told CNN Business.

Sherin Shibu

Entrepreneur Staff

News Reporter

Sherin Shibu is a business news reporter at Entrepreneur.com. She previously worked for PCMag, Business Insider, The Messenger, and ZDNET as a reporter and copyeditor. Her areas of coverage encompass tech, business, strategy, finance, and even space. She is a Columbia University graduate.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Business News

'It's Not About You': How to Fire Someone Effectively, According to Kevin O'Leary

O'Leary says that if you can't fire someone, you aren't the right leader for the organization.

Side Hustle

'Hustling Every Day': These Friends Started a Side Hustle With $2,500 Each — It 'Snowballed' to Over $500,000 and Became a Multimillion-Dollar Brand

Paris Emily Nicholson and Saskia Teje Jenkins had a 2020 brainstorm session that led to a lucrative business.

Business News

'I'm Not Trying to Land on Mars': Mark Cuban Takes Dig at Elon Musk to Explain Why His Online Pharmacy Isn't Trying to Make More Money

Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. is an online pharmacy co-founded by Cuban and radiologist Alex Oshmyansky.

Business News

Meta Makes $1 Million Dollar Donation to Donald Trump's Inaugural Fund

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also reportedly gave Trump a pair of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Leadership

Should I Stay or Should I Go? 8 Key Points to Navigate the Founder's Dilemma

Here are eight key signs that help founders determine whether to persevere or let go.