As journalists there is an old rule we are to follow. The rule of journalism holds that journalists should never make themselves a part of a story they’re telling. Journalists are only there to document a moment in history. However, yesterday I found myself part of a current event story not reported on much, so I think it is okay for me to violate that rule.
I no sooner read the story then experienced it myself the next day!
The mainstream media and popular internet podcaster pundits have not covered this hot button issue much as of yet. We found this recent video short from 3 weeks ago that explains the situation pretty well and asks for our input:
“The Federal Trade Commission is gathering information to expose how technology platforms have violated the law in censoring Americans. If you or anyone you know has experienced Big Tech censorship, now is your opportunity to do something about it! Text “FTC” to 51776 to share your story.”
So here is my story about how Big Tech censored me yesterday.
(You be the judge whether you think I deserved it or not.)
But first, a little background on me. When I was growing up, and to this day my two favorite things in life are thinking and laughing (after God, family, and country of course). They say high intellect fosters a sense of humor so that was the first inkling I had I was really smart, as my school teachers were making me feel dumb. Dad used to get mad at me and scold me, “Mark! The world hates a smartass!” I have since come to find out Dad was only half right. Liberals hate my smart ass but conservatives, man, they love me! Case in point:
Yesterday I had to run a few errands uptown when I came upon a Tesla with a bumper sticker that both pissed me off and then made me laugh. The Elon Musk-bashing sticker pissed me off but then I noticed the license plate tag, 2 months expired, which made me laugh. I immediately thought, “Oh man, this is too good of an opportunity to waste!” I snapped a picture of it for social media use later.
So, I get home and make my social media post to a local Facebook Group page. This was my post with picture:
“If anybody knows the liberal who owns this awesome Tesla with this awful bumper sticker, please let them know their license plate tag is 2 months expired. Thank God for their bumper sticker or I might not have noticed their expired tag!”
So I am instantly Mr. Popularity in this group garnering 18 likes and a few comments in just 15 minutes (not bad for daytime working hours) in a small local group. However, before 20 minutes had passed my post was gone! I couldn’t understand why. I went back to the FB Group page to ask “What gives?” I know the page manager is somewhat of a liberal and does not like politics on the page he created but I also know he has a sense of humor.
Almost immediately some of my fellow Group members came to my allegiance to enlighten me saying, “Gary has a full-time job now so it wasn’t him. Meta is using AI bots now to take down any content they find objectionable. One of the liberals in this group probably complained and the bots instantly took it down.”
Now where this gets interesting is when you go look at Facebook and what Meta has to say about this issue:
“How Facebook uses artificial intelligence to moderate content
When we find content (example: post, comment, story) that goes against our Community Standards, we remove it from Facebook. If the content doesn’t go against our Community Standards but may be inappropriate, disrespectful, or offensive, we may do things like reduce the distribution of the content on Facebook or mark it as sensitive. Our Community Standards define what is and isn’t allowed on Facebook, and they apply all over the world. They’re designed to encourage expression and create a safe environment on Facebook.”
CONCLUSION:
Because most of the members of this particular Facebook group are fellow conservative Trump voting Republicans, many of them became so outraged at what happened to me, they told me I should send the un-redacted plate picture into the County Sheriff for them to prosecute this individual.
I won’t do that as I am not like that. I am angry with Mark Zuckerberg and Meta violating my right to free speech in making a public service announcement to try to help somebody avoid a ticket… sure, they are a liberal I was trying to make a fool out of, too, but hey, I am not hard wired like a liberal wanting to engage in lawfare.
I hope the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) take a sludge hammer (used in swamp work) to Meta and any other Big Tech outfit who tries to protect the hypocrisy or stupidity of the liberal left. They will never crush my spirit, and this will never, not be funny to me and my followers!
I would have respected this Tesla owning guy or gal if their bumper sticker read, “HEY, DON’T KEY MY CAR, I VOTED FOR KAMALA!” That would actually be pretty funny.
I have no respect for anybody of either party who engages in attacks on Elon Musk for simply trying to perform a forensic audit that ultimately exposed taxpayer dollar theft worthy of charges of treason! How, in the hell, do you lose trillions of taxpayer dollars?
When some of these smartasses say, “We didn’t elect Elon Mush to any office,” my reply is immediate, “Yeah, well we also didn’t elect any of these Congressmen and women to rob us blind, EITHER! You should shut up and listen to Musk.”
My concluding comment is Elon Musk is an American hero of our time and if you are against him after what he exposed, you must be either an idiot or one of the thieves.
Another old expression I learned in my youth that applies well here, “Don’t kill the messenger just because you didn’t want to hear the message.” – Author Unknown
© 2025 by Mark S. Schwendau
