Peach Tree Times

The Safari Club International (SCI) is circulating a petition against Facebook and other social media to "Stand Up Against Big Tech's Censorship of Hunting."

The petition already had 5,728 signatures, and its website says SCI has "heard countless stories from hunters, guides, outfitters and more, of their accounts being locked or even taken down entirely with little to no warning or justification" by Facebook and Instagram. 

In an SCI letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the group requested information on why posts and photos continuously are taken off the social media platform for inappropriate content. 

Facebook's Community Standards on objectionable content under violent and graphic content state that imagery of animals will be removed if it includes "humans killing animals if there is no explicit manufacturing, hunting, food consumption, processing or preparation context" or if that imagery is "showing wounds or cuts that render visible innards or dismemberment, if there is no explicit manufacturing, hunting, taxidermy, medical treatment, rescue or food consumption, preparation or processing context, or the animal is already skinned or with its outer layer fully removed."

In the letter, SCI CEO W. Laird Hamberlin asked Zuckerberg why the contents the group shares is being flagged and removed despite being "entirely legal, appropriate content from The Hunting Consortium Ltd., a well-regarded domestic and international hunting agency," and why Facebook has continued to ignore multiple attempts of outreach to resolve the issue from SCI. 

Hamberlin noted that Facebook and Instagram have removed 1,000 of 1,500 posts without explanation, the ability to like The Hunting Consortium’s website through Facebook, Facebook Messenger and Instagram direct messages, the ability for users to link the website to personal, group or public pages, the ability for users to share content from The Hunting Consortium page and the ability for The Hunting Consortium Page to interact with other posts.

"Hunters drive conservation, wildlife management and sustainable use. We contribute billions to conservation funding, improve critical wildlife habitat and support local economies – yet we are treated like we are the bad guys for participating in a legal, regulated activity that provides immense benefits," the petition website said.

OutdoorLife recently featured a post from Nosler Inc., stating that “Instagram’s latest update automatically adds a filter to limit you from seeing content that they think might be upsetting or offensive … (i.e. everything hunting and shooting related).” The article said, “If you’re a hunter and you’re active on social media, you’re almost certain to know someone who has had posts flagged, removed or even been locked out of their pages. Often, the posts are completely benign, but get 'flagged' as being harmful content in one form or another and removed.”

"How is a still photo of a hunter standing next to an animal more violent than a hockey fight or UFC clip?" Daily Malarkey, a daily email newsletter covering news, media, politics and pop-culture, wrote. The newsletter described the main issue, saying, “Photos are being blurred-out, removed and stamped as 'sensitive content' for violating 'community standards.' Accounts are being locked and terminated with little advance warning or justification.”

in his letter to Zuckerberg, Hamberlin asked for a detailed explanation as to "why such outrageous and unwarranted restrictions were placed on their accounts, restore the 1,000-1,500 deleted posts (photos and albums), and immediately reinstate full capabilities to The Hunting Consortium’s Facebook and Instagram accounts."