In Dizzying About Face, Facebook Lifts Gun Group Ban
As recently as two weeks ago, company said it will not be republishing Virginia Citizens Defense League s page
Stephen Gutowski • February 16, 2021 5:50 pm
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A top Virginia gun-rights organization is back on Facebook after another enforcement error from the social media company.
The Virginia Citizens Defense League s Facebook page was restored on Saturday after being banned from the platform at the end of January. The company, which had insisted that the ban was reviewed and final, conceded that it made a mistake in taking down the page for the second time in two months.
Stephen Gutowski
Feb 17, 2021 3:30 PM ET
A top Virginia gun-rights organization is back on Facebook after another “enforcement error” from the social media company.
The Virginia Citizens Defense League’s Facebook page was restored on Saturday after being banned from the platform at the end of January. The company, which had insisted that the ban was reviewed and final, conceded that it made a mistake in taking down the page for the second time in two months.
“After further review, we concluded that this page was removed as an enforcement error and have since restored it,” a Facebook spokesperson said.
The company has flip-flopped on banning the group several times over the past month. At the end of January, Facebook banned the group’s page before saying it “was removed in error” and apologizing.
Some of those arrested for ties to the Capitol insurrection have been seen at the massive annual event held in Richmond, which in recent years has drawn a mix of gun rights advocates and right-wing extremists from rural parts of the state to its liberal enclave capital.
Crowds gather for the 2020 Lobby Day in Richmond, Va., to protest gun-control laws that were later signed by Democratic Governor Ralph Northam. (Photo via Virginia Citizens Defense League/Facebook)
RICHMOND, Va. (CN) Days after Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to stop the confirmation of President-elect Joe Biden’s win, gun-rights groups are heading to Virginia’s capital for an annual rally that shares faces and themes with the Washington mob.