Restore Dirk Caber's Facebook Page

Restore Dirk Caber's Facebook Page

Started
October 6, 2014
Petition to
Petition Closed
This petition had 1,647 supporters

Why this petition matters

Started by Jesse Jackman

Three years ago, my partner Dirk Caber, an actor in adult-oriented gay films, created a Facebook fan page that eventually grew to over 56,000 dedicated followers. He and his fans routinely engaged in intelligent, respectful discussions, not just about the adult film industry but about issues that are important to the entire LGBT community.

On September 29, 2014, that thriving community was abruptly and unfairly silenced.

That Monday morning, Facebook removed Dirk's fan page without warning, provocation, or justification. The only notification Dirk received, which arrived by popup message (view a screen capture of it here), was nothing short of bizarre:

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Your Page has been unpublished, which means it's only visible to people who help manage your Page. This happened because the Page doesn't follow one or more of the Facebook Page Term(s).

Please Review Facebook's Policies

It's against our policies to:
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Please Review Facebook's Policies                                               Appeal  |  Okay 
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The level of censorship seen here is extremely troubling. Facebook had removed Dirk's page without supplying – without being able to supply -- a justification. If he had violated any policies, shouldn’t Facebook have been able to list them? (Note that Facebook's “real name” policy does not apply in this case; although Dirk does use an alias -- as do countless performers, artists, and writers -- the recently recinded policy only applied to personal profiles, not fan pages.)

Dirk used the notification’s Appeal option to ask for clarification (a Facebook help page instructs users to use the open to ask for “more clarity”), but Facebook simply responded that “the content advertised on this page is prohibited.” Since the company specifically allows the promotion of adult services under section IV, paragraph A of the Facebook Pages Terms document, Dirk and I fail to see how his page breaks the site's rules in any way. (Frustratingly, after he received Facebook’s response, the Appeal option vanished, replaced by a message that he had already appealed the decision… which, of course, he hadn't.)

In the weeks and months leading up to his Facebook banishment, Dirk had posted nothing more controversial than G-rated photos from his recent trip to Europe, information about various nonprofit fundraisers he had participated in, and links to articles about such topics as internet censorship and LGBT discrimination. While he does occasionally promote adult content, he's worked very hard to be compliant with Facebook's page terms -- including restricting access to his page to a minimum age of 18 -- and has never posted anything that a reasonable person would consider offensive, lewd, or hateful. His page was a place of respect and tolerance… something that his 56,000 followers (and over 200,000 of mine) can attest to.

Dirk and I find it extraordinarily disturbing that Facebook would unpublish a profile as constructive, welcoming, and rule-abiding as Dirk's without being able to list any reason why. Is Facebook now discriminating against adult film performers who -- according to Facebook's own policies -- are welcome as long as they follow the rules? Or does this point to a broader anti-LGBT bias? While either is possible, those are greater issues... ones that cannot be overcome by means of a single petition alone.

But we need to start somewhere.

Therefore, we the undersigned formally request that Facebook reinstate Dirk Caber's fan page, formerly located at http://facebook.com/dirkcaber, and restore the once-vibrant community that suddenly, unjustifiably, lost its discerning voice. In addition, Dirk and I would like to encourage everyone who signs this petition to add a personal comment in the "Why is this important to you?" section with any additional comments, attestations, or words of support you'd like to add.

Thank you, as always, for your support. Remember: LOVE CONQUERS ALL.

With love and respect,
Jesse Jackman and Dirk Caber

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This petition had 1,647 supporters

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