Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has issued an apology for blocking an activist campaigning for Black Lives Matter, Shaun King.
King, who also happens to be a writer for the New York Daily News posted a screenshot of a racist email that was sent to him and Facebook censored it. The tone used in the email was demeaning and there was even the use of the “N-word”. The writer had posted the screenshot of the email to demonstrate how bad the situation is for blacks, only for him to receive a notification that it had been removed not long after that.
The notification also informed King that he would be banned from the social site for 24 hours and that he would not be able to post anything on the site within the period of the ban. According to the Guardian, King was the guest speaker at an event hosted by Facebook a few weeks ago and he talked about the ‘Black Lives Matter’ campaign. He used the connections he acquired to reach out to Facebook about the ban and the company quickly worked it out.
King’s access to his Facebook account was restored after roughly six hours. The writer/activist also received an apology from the company.
“This was a mistake, and we sincerely apologize for the error,” stated Facebook in the notification.
Shortly after his account was restored, King posted a follow-up statement where he pointed out that he has heard of many people that have gone through the same circumstance.
“So many of you have told me that you have had your accounts suspended for FIGHTING BIGOTRY (sic) while the bigots often seem to be able to say whatever the hell (sic) they want,” said King in a follow-up statement.
Facebook responded to Fortune claiming that it handles millions of reports on a weekly basis. The company stated that it doesn’t always get things right and such things do happen.
Facebook stock closed the recent trading day at $127.21 with a slight decline by $1.48 which is equivalent to 1.15%. The trading volume of the stock was 18.02 million shares.