A Republican running for U.S. Senate in Missouri has been banned for 30 days by Facebook–for his stance on the Second Amendment.
Candidate Austin Petersen was suspended after he promoted an AR-15 giveaway on his official Facebook page, as part of a counterprotest against gun control.
“Your right to bear arms is a fundamental, unalienable right protected by the Second Amendment,” wrote Petersen, via Facebook. “The government has no power to take away your means of self-defense.”
Facebook had previously slapped Petersen with another 30 day ban late last year, for another giveaway, but they later overturned that suspension after several days.
The decision to interfere in a Senate election raised eyebrows–not just because of the social media giant’s clout, but because Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg is reportedly close friends with Petersen’s opponent, Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. Sandberg also donated to McCaskill’s campaign in both 2012 and 2018, and promoted her at various fundraising events.
especially considering the the COO of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, is close friends with and a large donor to Petersen’s opponent: Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill.
Petersen’s only statement on the ban came from his Twitter account, where he wrote, simply: “banned from Facebook for 30 days… again.”