Facebook Reverses Ban Against Virginia Gun-Rights Group

Facebook reinstated several accounts connected to a leading Virginia gun-rights group one week after suspending its pages without explanation.

Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL), told the Washington Free Beacon on Monday his Facebook account had been restored along with those of other VCDL leadership and the group's official page. Facebook suspended and deactivated several of its accounts in the lead-up to the group's lobby day on Jan. 18. Even after the lobby day event went off without incident, Facebook continued to purge VCDL leadership from the site. Ken van Wyk, a VCDL executive member who helps organize the event each year, saw his account deactivated as he attempted to memorialize baseball great Hank Aaron on Friday.

"I’m a pro-2A conservative, but I’ve never advocated for anything unlawful," he told the Free Beacon. "I’d just finished posting an ‘RIP Hank Aaron' note when my ‘session timed out,' and I was told my account was disabled. I tried to go through their process to have this reviewed and immediately got a note saying that I had violated their community standards and their decision could not be reversed." 

After defending Van Cleave's suspension for violating the company's "coordinating harm policies" and saying the decision "was re-reviewed and stands" on Thursday, Facebook went a step further and suspended the VCDL page on Friday. Several hours later, the VCDL page had been restored though the personal pages of VCDL leaders remained suspended.