Kansas Reflector experienced a significant setback when all of its Facebook posts were deleted and users were blocked from sharing links to the site. This disruption extended to two other websites on Friday.
On Thursday morning, my phone was bombarded with notifications from concerned Kansas Reflector readers. They reached out to inform me about a distressing issue with our Facebook page. According to them, they were no longer able to view our posts or share any links. To make matters worse, some of the links they had previously shared had been inexplicably removed.
Some individuals expressed their concerns that Facebook was removing our content due to a particular political motive. They specifically referred to the raid on the Marion County Record newspaper, as well as our articles about Emporia State University, former Topeka city manager Stephen Wade, and the ongoing legislative incidents.
In a flurry of activity, we hastily sprang into action, grappling with the situation at hand while simultaneously providing much-needed reassurance to our vast community of 13,000 followers.
I immediately reached out to my bosses and tech support, expressing my concern that our Facebook page had been completely wiped out.
Four days later, our posts have been restored, Meta spokesman Andy Stone apologized, and we have once again made the national news. A story about the fracas was written by CNN.com, which also reported that two other websites were temporarily blocked. PC Mag, the Wrap, and Editor & Publisher all ran with the story. The editorial pages of The Kansas City Star and Wichita Eagle weighed in, and even Margaret Atwood, the author of “Handmaid’s Tale,” lent her support.
Everything turns out fine in the end, doesn’t it?
No, that’s not quite accurate.
I don’t think our coverage of the Marion County raid or Kansas Legislature caused the digital purge of Kansas Reflector content. However, I can’t say for sure because Facebook has been frustratingly vague about the entire situation. Stone categorically denied that the most likely target, a column from documentary filmmaker Dave Kendall criticizing the platform, was responsible.
During a Friday afternoon phone call with editor-in-chief Sherman Smith, he provided us with a technical explanation that left us feeling confused.
According to Stone, the issue was not related to the content or the story that was written. Instead, he attributed it to a domain problem with three different websites, each operating independently, but coincidentally hosting Kendall’s column.
According to the spokesperson, the security issue was linked to the domains of Kansas Reflector, News From The States, and The Handbasket. He clarified that it was not specifically related to this particular story, but rather at the domain level.
During conversations with States Newsroom technical support staff, Stone’s explanation raised questions. However, he did not provide further clarification during the interview with Smith or when apologizing online. In a crisis situation like this, Meta PR should have been more transparent about what went wrong, how engineers resolved the issue, and reassured journalists that they would not be targeted again.
He declined to comment on whether other news outlets should be cautious about their content.
The events of the past week have made it clear to everyone that when we entrust our civic conversation to a single for-profit business, it poses significant risks for society as a whole. These risks, which were largely overlooked or misunderstood, have now come to light as the actions of this company have impacted billions of people.
The accompanying illustration by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector highlights how social media posts are a reflection of Facebook’s recent actions. Facebook has been blocking news sites that published Dave Kendall’s critical column about the company.
What went down
This Article Includes
If you are following Kansas Reflector on Facebook and sharing our content, we kindly request that you let us know if you are still experiencing any difficulties. Feel free to take screenshots of any problems you encounter and share them with us.
To stay updated with our coverage, we recommend subscribing to our daily newsletter. You can easily subscribe by clicking here.
Marisa Kabas, a dedicated journalist, covered this story with great diligence. You also have the option to subscribe to her newsletter.
This is a detailed chronicle of the events that unfolded on Thursday and Friday, pieced together from our personal experiences and the feedback we received from our readers and Facebook community.
Around 8 a.m. on Thursday, we made our usual attempt to post a link to Kendall’s column. This is a daily routine for us, as we share our opinion piece every morning. Naturally, we didn’t anticipate any issues with the platform on Thursday, just like any other day.
We encountered an issue when trying to post the link. The site rejected it multiple times, so we decided to share a link to our home page instead. We informed readers that they could find Kendall’s work there.
In just thirty minutes after that post, Facebook deleted every single article from Kansas Reflector that had been shared on the platform in the past four years. This included a total of 6,000 stories, columns, and briefs. The platform also removed all of the interactions and discussions that had taken place on those links. As a result, it became impossible to share any new posts from our website.
Those who have shared our articles in the past have received messages falsely claiming that our website poses a cybersecurity risk. However, this information is completely inaccurate.
We made every effort to contact Meta, reaching out through various channels, while also addressing numerous messages from our readers who were both confused and concerned. On our website and Facebook page, we published a concise article, providing an explanation to the best of our knowledge. It was a challenging task to shed light on the actions of a massive corporation with its headquarters based in California.
After approximately seven hours of the content disappearing, a significant portion of it was eventually restored. Stone, the spokesman for Meta, responded by posting a comment on X, refuting any connection between the blocking of links and the removal of posts to Kendall’s column. He acknowledged the mistake and offered an apology, assuring that it had already been rectified.
At that moment, we held onto the hope that the situation had reached its conclusion.
Late in the evening on Thursday and continuing into Friday, it became evident that the situation was far from resolved. To our dismay, the platform continued to prohibit the inclusion of links to Kendall’s column. Furthermore, we were informed by readers that certain Kansas Reflector links had yet to be reinstated. Despite our efforts to address the issue by submitting multiple reports via our account, we received no response or acknowledgement.
On Friday, we made an experimental decision. Instead of posting the link to our column on Facebook, we decided to link to the column as it appeared on News from the States, a website that aggregates content from all 50 state-level newsrooms. We also tried sharing the link to Kendall’s column on The Handbasket, a website run by independent journalist Marisa Kabas.
Facebook denied our requests to share the column on either platform. However, things took a turn at approximately 12:30 pm on Friday when Facebook removed both News from the States and The Handbasket.
All the posts that contained links to both of those sites got removed from Facebook, and users were blocked from sharing any new links. It seems like the reversal of a single error was not enough. As a result, the focus of the conversation shifted from our readers and supporters to journalists on X.
Kabas couldn’t believe the news and shared it with a justified sense of disbelief. Legal reporter Chris Geidner described the situation as “truly wild,” using a different word instead of “stuff.”
After about three hours, Meta eventually relented and restored the posts from both Kabas’ and States Newsroom’s websites. Users were then able to freely share Kendall’s column on the platform. It was at this juncture that Stone reached out to Smith to share his perspective on the whole ordeal. Some of his quotes from that conversation are featured in the earlier portion of this article.
According to Stone, Facebook will not notify readers about its misleading actions.
Smith was told by him, “You guys will cover it.”
Our editor revised his second-day story about the situation, and we all returned to reporting news from the Kansas Statehouse. However, the ongoing influx of messages from readers on Facebook and through email indicates that many individuals are still disturbed and perplexed by the situation.
As I write this column on Sunday, I am still addressing readers’ concerns and assuring them that our website has not been hacked and that we are not distributing any malicious software.
Meta, the company that owns and operates Facebook, also has control over other popular social media platforms such as Threads, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger.
Searching for explanations
Now, let’s delve into the details for a moment.
The removal of Kansas Reflector articles from Meta platforms was more widespread than initially understood. We discussed and addressed the issue on Facebook, as it was a topic of concern for our readers. Similarly, national media outlets also emphasized the impact on this particular platform.
However, it is important to highlight that all content from Kansas Reflector was removed and blocked on Threads, the Twitter competitor introduced by Meta last year. Additionally, we faced restrictions on Instagram as we included a link to this website in our bio. Moreover, we were unable to share Kansas Reflector links with individuals who reached out to us through Facebook messenger.
When it comes to these products, it is reasonable to assume that any internal decisions made by Meta had a profound impact. In essence, the issue lies not in Facebook’s actions but rather in Meta’s decision to block us from their most popular platforms.
There are a few things that we can say with certainty.
Meta and its platforms have been moving away from news and political content in recent years.
Facebook’s algorithm changes have resulted in a decrease in the amount of traffic directed towards news organizations and advocacy groups.
Both right- and left-leaning groups have expressed their grievances about Facebook’s actions that have made it harder for their content to be discovered. Readers who interacted with Kansas Reflector posts on this matter shared numerous instances where they felt that their politically-oriented posts were removed for various reasons.
Facebook’s priorities seem clear: it prefers users to indulge in light-hearted memes rather than confront the weighty and occasionally distressing matters of our time. This strategic choice is understandable, considering the backlash Facebook faced during the 2016 election and the subsequent Cambridge Analytica scandal.
However, this is detrimental to the quality of civic discourse.
Meta’s recent decisions have significantly reduced the usefulness of its platform for journalists and individuals who are keen on staying updated with the latest news.
Distinctions and caveats
It is important to note some key distinctions and considerations when discussing this story. Firstly, it should be noted that Kansas Reflector does not heavily rely on Facebook for its operations. As a result, the social media platform currently contributes to only 2-3% of our overall website traffic. This trend is consistent with the experiences of other news sites during this period.
To put it simply, extending the block beyond Thursday would have had little impact on our actions or methods.
We are deeply concerned about the impact the site’s actions had on our readers and followers on the platform. Additionally, it is troubling that Facebook disseminated false information about us to these readers. It would have been preferable if Stone had given more consideration to this crucial aspect of the story. Ensuring the online safety, privacy, and security of our users is of utmost importance to us and our parent organization.
The block and its aftershocks had a significant impact on Kansas Reflector, diverting our attention from the crucial task of reporting on the conclusion of the state legislative session. Important decisions regarding state taxes and spending were being made, but instead of focusing on these matters, both Smith and I were caught up in a dispute with a social media company. Furthermore, Meta’s actions immediately discouraged local news organizations from sharing their content on the platform, creating a chilling effect.
“We want to err on the side of caution, so we have decided not to share this editorial on our Facebook page,” expressed the editorial board of the Kansas City Star.
Meta has the right to shut down or limit access to websites, as long as it complies with the law. Its commercial speech, as a corporation, is protected by the First Amendment. However, it seems contradictory for Meta to completely exclude links from a public service, nonprofit news website if it claims to cater to the broadest possible public.
Making a smart decision is not solely determined by having the right to do something.
In recent days, it is important for readers, journalists, and Meta to carefully examine the situation at hand. It is crucial to distinguish between adjusting content visibility through algorithms and completely blocking it. We must also differentiate between sharing misleading links that aim to undermine civic norms and sharing links to reliable, fact-based reporting and commentary. Furthermore, it is essential to recognize the distinction between offering insincere apologies and genuinely taking responsibility for any harm caused.
It appears that Facebook no longer values making these distinctions, regardless of one’s ideology.
For individuals interested in staying up-to-date with Kansas politics and journalists covering the topic, this change can be quite inconvenient.
Sign up now to receive the latest news and updates straight to your inbox every morning. Stay informed and start your day off right with our curated selection of headlines from around the world. Don’t miss out on the top stories and breaking news – subscribe today!
Clay Wirestone serves as the opinion editor for Kansas Reflector. The opinion section of Kansas Reflector aims to give a platform to individuals who are impacted by public policies or often left out of public discourse. If you would like to contribute your own commentary, you can find more information on how to do so here.
The clash between Kansas Reflector and Facebook: Our page has been nuked
The battle between Kansas Reflector and the social media giant, Facebook, has reached new heights. Our page has been completely wiped out, leaving us grappling with the consequences. This incident has shed light on the power dynamics at play in the digital landscape. The post ‘Facebook has nuked our page’: Inside Kansas Reflector’s clash with the social media Goliath highlights the challenges faced by independent media outlets in their quest for fair and unbiased coverage.
