Facebook shutters parent group opposed to California's COVID-19 mandates

A parent-run Facebook group opposing COVID-19 mandates in Los Angeles schools was disabled by platform administrators this week for allegedly spreading “misinformation,” The Epoch Times reported.

The 3,000 member group — LAUSD Parents Against Medical Mandates — was originally started by LA Unified School District (LAUSD) parents after officials announced that the district would be implementing COVID-19 vaccine requirements for students in September.   

Before being taken down, members routinely shared information regarding vaccine, mask, and testing mandates in schools, as well as other health-related studies and articles.

Former group administrator and LAUSD parent, Oksana Sandler, noted that group posts would routinely be flagged by Facebook as “misinformation” or “without context” — although many posts included information from “credible sources” such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and mRNA vaccine developer Dr. Robert Malone.

On Jan. 5, however, Facebook disabled the group for allegedly not adhering to “community standards on misinformation that could cause physical harm.”

Facebook and other popular social media platforms have recently cracked-down on “misinformation” and posts which question the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.

Last summer, the social media giant announced that it would take action against “vaccine misinformation superspreaders.”

“Any amount of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation that violates our policies is too much by our standards,” Facebook Vice President Monika Bickert said in a post to the site. “Since the beginning of the pandemic across our entire platform, we have removed over 3,000 accounts, Pages and groups for repeatedly violating our rules against spreading COVID-19 and vaccine misinformation and removed more than 20 million pieces of content for breaking these rules.”

Sandler believes that the closing of the group is a clear example of the suppression of an alternative viewpoint.

“Everybody sees it, the censorship that is imposed,” she said.

“You can talk about China and how you cannot speak against their regime,” she said. “But to have it in the country that was built on principles of freedom and for us not to have freedom of speech, for Facebook to tell us what we are allowed and not allowed to say … is disturbing.”

Since Facebook closed the group, Sandler — along with the other administrators — have petitioned Facebook to reverse its decision.