A group of disability advocates is charging that Facebook is turning a blind eye to profiles and pages on the social network that they say are offensive to people with disabilities.
In an open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, advocates point to profiles and pages on the social network with names like “I am retarded and proud of it” and “Re Tard” that persist even after repeated reports to site administrators. They also claim that profiles critical of individuals with disabilities feature stolen photos of kids with special needs that have been ripped from personal Facebook pages.
More than 1,000 people have signed on to the letter spearheaded by Steven and Holly Tischer, who have a son with Down syndrome and run the organization Tischer’s Troops, which supports inclusion.
They plan to present the letter to Facebook officials on Wednesday by asking supporters to post it to the notes section of Zuckerberg’s Facebook page.
The Tischers say they have reported pages with questionable content to Facebook administrators hundreds of times with no result. When pages have been removed, they typically reappear with the same name and slightly different information, the couple indicates.
“We continue to report them, but (Facebook) does nothing to the individuals creating these fake profiles even though FB’s own policies indicate they will,” the Tischers wrote in an e-mail to Disability Scoop from their home in South Korea where Steven Tischer is serving in the U.S. Army.
“There are no ‘fake’ or other pages or profiles in existence that discriminate against any race, sexual preference, gender, religion or political view… The only hate-filled or discriminatory profiles are those pages specifically targeting individuals with disabilities. It is sick and needs to stop,” the Tischers wrote.
Facebook officials did not respond to numerous requests for comment.
There is a Facebook page that makes light of Palin’s Down Syndrome son. They call for bashing in the face of people who support individuals with developmental disabilities.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_223279721017222
Okay. I don’t want to be a jerk or seem like a troll……but to say there are NO other discriminatory Facebook pages or profiles is completely false.
While I agree that communities on Facebook that revolve around mocking people with intellectual disabilities should be shut down, it really REALLY hurts the argument of Tischer’s Troops to say that no other minorities are being mocked, ridiculed or attacked on Facebook. There are literally thousands of pages and profiles that attack pretty much every race, religion, or sexual preference out there. If this is blatantly false then perhaps everything else they say is wrong too?
I appreciate the urgency to encourage Facebook to deal with these issues, but ridiculous hyperbole like saying people with disabilities are the ONLY ones getting attacked on Facebook just makes you look like a whiner and an exaggerator.
Not for nothin’ but did you really want to start this article with “turn a blind eye”, turning a visual impairment into a verb? If so, then is it ok to say, that’s so retarded?
Facebook has also helped stigmatize (discriminatory, offensive language, stereotypes, etc) people living wih mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia–including an “Insanity Test” that appeared as a game. They have ignored protests. They need to review their policy and indifference across the board.
@cripz ~ We appreciate your comments and would like to respond to your comments about “there being NO other discriminatory pages/profiles on FB.” When we did our research about this issue, referencing the way individuals with disabilities are so blatantly attacked over and over with thousands of pages, we were lucky to find any pages/ profiles mocking and belittling other people because of their race, ethnicity, sexual preference, religious or political view. We typed in the “N-word” and other racial slurs, offensive sexual slurs, religious slurs and so on and couldn’t draw any pages. We did find one page with 1 or 2 people dealing white supremacy. Perhaps we did not use broad enough terms in our search – we don’t savvy ourselves with all the latest and greatest hate terms for our fellow human beings. We pride ourselves on being good Christian people and treat everyone with kindness and respect. What we DID see with A HIGH degree of intensity was hate speech and a blatant disregard for individuals with diff-abilities of all types, especially those with Down syndrome. They appear to be the target group for people on Facebook and we simply do not understand it and want it to stop. There is NO reason on earth to make fun of any person because you simply don’t understand them or like the way the look. One of the other individuals here commented about individuals with mental illness – they too are mocked by society because people in the world do not want to take the time to understand that their illness is real, just like cancer, strokes and heart disease! So we apologize if our use of the words “NO other minorities are being mocked, ridiculed or attacked on Facebook” is incorrect. We want ALL DISCRIMINATION to stop on Facebook and in the real world. Rather than down lay the label that we are liars or tell falsehoods to the world, perhaps you should check out what we are doing on Facebook. We would even appreciate if you would send us the other offensive pages to our group page so we can report them as well because we want them to go away just as much as the ones we are currently reporting! No matter who is being discriminated against — it is violating FB’s owns rules and regulations which is our point! Not to mention, we find that FB is quick to remove most of these other offensive pages but very slow to remove the ones attacking individuals with diff-abilities – our other point. We are parents of a child with Down syndrome ~ our fight is is his fight and you can say we are dropping hyperbole, whining or exaggerating. We call it our mission to make sure he has a fair and equal shot in society like everyone else! ~ Steven & Holly Tischer ~ Founders of TISCHER’S TROOPS – http://www.tischerstroops.com – “Marching Towards A Better Tomorrow!” ~ HOOAH!
@tischer — One of the biggest problems with the disability rights movement, right now, is our incessant need to compare ourselves to other civil rights struggles. It’s so common to hear the arguments “You would never call a black man the n-word so why is it okay to call someone the r-word.” Heck, I’ve even used that argument myself because it seems to make sense. But the problem is that these comparisons often lead to a competition of suffering, in which each minority group is convinced they have it worse and that their issues are the MOST urgent. In actuality, all of these issues are urgent–which you did deal with.
My biggest problem though with the quote is that is really,really hurts your argument because you fall into these traps of compared suffering. By making the claim that the disabled are the ONLY ones being discriminated against on facebook and that facebook is passively (or perhaps actively) allowing for this behaviour to continue makes your movement come off as radical and out of touch with the real world. I’m not saying you are and I’m not saying the work you’re doing isn’t important, but to the mainstream audience you come off as sounding ridiculous, hyperbolic and out of touch. For example, I personally have never, ever seen a facebook group or profile that openly slanders individuals with intellectual disabilities but I HAVE seen pages dedicated to keeping women in the kitchen, men in the closet, muslims in the middle east, and blacks on the fields. In my experience, these forms of oppression and segregation are FAR more prevalent, likely because I have a lot of homosexual, feminist and civil rights friends and facebook’s analytics present these issues because in a backwards way it thinks I would be interested in it. Similarily, I’m assuming your social circles are primarily dedicated to people with intellectual disabilities, and as such, are presented primarily with pages and profiles that are about these things.
Anyway, the core of my argument here is that I can tell you with 100% certainty that there are equal parts sexism, racism and classism as there are ableism on Facebook and people who don’t live with a disability or aren’t in some way connected with the disabled community likely see these examples of discrimination over the ableism you are fighting, so to belittle those other struggles and pretend like that oppression is not occuring or to minimize it only serves to limit your message and damage it’s credibility.
I’m not saying you need to stop, in fact I’m glad you’ve taken on this struggle…especially within the armed forces. Rather, I’m simply saying it really hurts your argument to fly into histronics of “we are the ONLY ones being discriminated against. Our suffering is worse than anyone else.”
It should also be noted that the fanpage for my webcomic, Cripz: A Webcomic, was deleted for using the word “cripple.” It took over a month to get the page re-instated because the word is being used satirically and to educate, not making fun of people with disabilities. In my experience, and from talking to friends of mine who currently work for Facebook, they are far more likely to ban a page and ask questions later. Having said that, they receive hundreds of reports a day, most of which are submitted by people who are angry at a friend (or foe) and are just trying to cause problems. As a result, it can sometimes take months for them to clear the backlog, but they eventually get around to it and clean things up as best as possible.
@Tischers – thanks for what you are doing and as far as the discussion between you and @cripzthecomic – I think we are giving too much emphasis to one small part of what you are doing/saying. What you are doing is great and I applaud you for it. Period – can we stop there?
I am not a fan of facebook in anyway. I do not have a page and feel strongly the negatives outweigh the benefits of membership; however, I am very tempted to join so I can become a friend of tischerstroops. I commend you for your actions, and I am hopeful that the powers that be at facebook will hear you and take steps to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for people with different abilities. I am going to inform my friends and colleagues about this issue and perhaps all of our voices combined will make a difference. Keep up the good work!
This is crazy, a guy came in and stole pics from our group “mommylove” put them up and is saying things like they should be dead, and should have been reported…and his group gets to stay, but our groups get pics taken down and closed b/c of breastfeeding
ermm……. hi facebook really need to sort these pages/ profiles out there is a page Retard McSwain that is taking photos from people’s profiles and displaying it on this Retard McSwain’s page and he/ she is being offencive to children with disabilities i know there is a privacy setting which will stop poeple from seeing these pictures of children but why should parents have to hide from sick inviduals that should be locked up in prison for being a pedophile etc, people report these pages to facebook and nothing is being done or said by facebook. facebook is a social networking site that allows people to get in contact with old school, work, even make new friends across the world, but no its gone alot further then that now and is easy prey for people like this Retard McSwain to hack there personal pictures of what precious moments they have with there kids. the government or police dont do anything about it either because its been reported to the police and nothing the page is still open it needs stopping now facebook sort it out or people will leave the site!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There is a page on FB that calls for the revoking of handicapped packing spaces for people with disabilities,because it is a farce. As a person with multiple disabilities this is the only thing that allows me a modicum of freedoml.They denigrate the disabled,little people,people who may weigh too much for whatever reason.