[Chapter-delegates] Suspension of Chapter Facebook pages for "impersonation"

Wed Apr 23 05:58:56 PDT 2025

Hi all,

Pages that were taken offline/blocked etc were lost. Those that were
suspended are still being worked on to get back online; by both Meta and
LCI teams. Unfortunately I do not have real details.

Kind regards,

Ricky P. Mahabir
Commissaris Vereniging De Dolfijn (Bar, Keuken en Recreatie)
Lions Club Parwani | (LC Member #5276037, *MJF*)
JCI Senator # 81045
2024-2025 Secretary ISOC Suriname Chapter (www.isoc.org)
Secretaris Buurtvereniging Gunny's Villapark
Voorzitter Key Jaycees / Past President | JCI Suriname
/ JCI Nilom

Mobile: +597-7697377 / +597-8727832 | e-mail: rickypm at gmail.com | Skype:
rmahabir

"Be the change you want to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi

On Wed, Apr 23, 2025 at 9:35 AM Alejandro Lengua <alengua at vo.pe> wrote:

> In my experience working with small businesses that have lost access to
> their Facebook or Instagram pages due to identity theft (usually as a
> result of stolen phones or malware installation), they have never received
> any help from META.
>
> However, I am glad to know that there are special support channels for
> organizations that have collaborative projects with ISOC and the LCI.
> Still, I believe that the number of complaints about these issues should
> prompt us to look for alternative channels for streaming and dissemination.
>
> Regards,
> Alejandro Lengua
>
> El mié, 23 abr 2025 a las 7:23, Joly MacFie via Chapter-delegates (<
> chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org>) escribió:
>
>> Hi Ricky,
>>
>> Thanks for the feedback. Useful context.
>>
>> So, basically, left hanging by FB? Since last year? Despite intervention
>> from parent org?
>>
>> Were there any prophylactic measures advised by LCI?
>>
>> Joly
>>
>> On Wed, Apr 23, 2025 at 7:54 AM Ricky Mahabir <rickypm at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear all,
>>>
>>> Greetings from Suriname.
>>> Just wanted to point out that this issue is not specific to ISOC FB
>>> pages, we have experienced the same since last year with Lions Clubs FB
>>> pages as well. Meta was also engaged by the main organization LCI.
>>>
>>> Kind regards,
>>>
>>> Ricky P. Mahabir
>>> Commissaris Vereniging De Dolfijn (Bar, Keuken en Recreatie)
>>> Lions Club Parwani | (LC Member #5276037, *MJF*)
>>> JCI Senator # 81045
>>> 2024-2025 Secretary ISOC Suriname Chapter (www.isoc.org)
>>> Secretaris Buurtvereniging Gunny's Villapark
>>> Voorzitter Key Jaycees / Past President | JCI Suriname
>>> / JCI Nilom
>>>
>>> Mobile: +597-7697377 / +597-8727832 | e-mail: rickypm at gmail.com |
>>> Skype: rmahabir
>>>
>>> "Be the change you want to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Apr 23, 2025 at 8:49 AM Joly MacFie via Chapter-delegates <
>>> chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Thanks for the quick response, Joe.
>>>>
>>>> On our end it is difficult to divine what action, if any, is being
>>>> taken by staff, so any update, even "nothing to report", is valuable.
>>>>
>>>> Perhaps,  staff could examine the mitigation steps proposed by both me
>>>> and ChatGPT, and comment or modify? Or institute some kind of verification
>>>> program?
>>>>
>>>> Joly
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Apr 23, 2025 at 7:30 AM Dr. Joseph Lorenzo Hall <hall at isoc.org>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Joly, I have been working for two weeks with Meta staff to try and get
>>>>> these pages restored. I asked Victor and you to provide the data that the
>>>>> review team needs and we've provided that to them. Typically, there are
>>>>> very few recourses after an appeal has been denied as with the Mali and
>>>>> Zimbabwe pages (please give me the details for the new page suspension
>>>>> off-list and I'll get that to the Meta review team).
>>>>>
>>>>> To be clear, we'll need to keep our expectations low; in my experience
>>>>> pages are rarely resorted after appeal. I'm hopeful, especially given our
>>>>> collaboration with Meta.
>>>>>
>>>>> We're working hard on this and so far there is nothing new to report
>>>>> back as it's in their queue (I assume). Can you please give us the benefit
>>>>> of the doubt that we are trying here? Thank you
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Joseph Lorenzo Hall PhD, Distinguished Technologist, Internet Society
>>>>> hall at isoc.org | +1-703-483-9504
>>>>> internetsociety.org | @internetsociety
>>>>> pgp: 3CA28D7B9F6DDBD34B1016075F86698740A9A871
>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>> *From:* Chapter-delegates <chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org>
>>>>> on behalf of Joly MacFie via Chapter-delegates <
>>>>> chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org>
>>>>> *Sent:* Wednesday, April 23, 2025 7:01:09 AM
>>>>> *To:* ISOC Chapter Delegates <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org>
>>>>> *Subject:* [Chapter-delegates] Suspension of Chapter Facebook pages
>>>>> for "impersonation"
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> For ISOC.LIVE video crossposting purposes, I have, over the years,
>>>>> gained some admin role or other on 50+ Chapter Facebook pages. Recently a
>>>>> worrying trend has arisen of pages getting suspended by FB for
>>>>> "impersonation". Requested reviews have been summarily denied.
>>>>>
>>>>> Apart from making these pages unavailable, this has resulted in me and
>>>>> other page admins having our accounts restricted, such that we can't post
>>>>> or manage groups. ( I manage several non-ISOC technical groups, a couple
>>>>> with 1000s of members)
>>>>>
>>>>> Suspensions include
>>>>>
>>>>> *Internet Society Zimbabwe – ISOC Zim*
>>>>> https://www.facebook.com/isoczim/
>>>>> Suspended: December 17, 2024
>>>>> Review Decision: Not restored (January 3, 2025)
>>>>> Reason: Impersonation
>>>>>
>>>>> *ISOC Mali – Le Chapitre malien d’Internet Society*
>>>>> https://www.facebook.com/isocml/
>>>>> Suspended: March 26, 2025
>>>>> Review Decision: Not restored (March 31, 2025)
>>>>> Reason: Impersonation
>>>>>
>>>>> After these two, and since there had just been trumpeted the
>>>>> extension ISOC and Meta's partnership in Africa
>>>>> <https://www.internetsociety.org/news/press-releases/2025/internet-society-extends-multi-year-partnership-with-meta-and-announces-connectivity-co-funding-initiative/>,
>>>>> I reached out to Victor Ndonnang and also Chapter Support to see if strings
>>>>> could be pulled.
>>>>>
>>>>> Victor, as always, was responsive, and concerned about the
>>>>> damage these suspensions could do to two of the region's most active
>>>>> chapters.
>>>>>
>>>>> However Vcitor's efforts appeared to be in vain. I remembered that Katie
>>>>> Watson Jordan <https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-watson/>, formerly a
>>>>> mainstay of the North America Bureau, now worked out at Meta. I reached out
>>>>> to her and she asked for details to pass along to the "review team'".That
>>>>> was around a week ago.
>>>>>
>>>>> Chapter Support did not respond at all. No surprise there.
>>>>>
>>>>> Today, April 23 2025, comes another suspension, not of  just a
>>>>> chapter, but the Asia Pacific Bureau Page, taking out a whole region! I
>>>>> immediately appealed this, with the result that, within minutes, the page
>>>>> was totally removed.
>>>>>
>>>>> [image: image.png]
>>>>>
>>>>> I have passed that to Katie, too.
>>>>>
>>>>> So, what's going on here? It's not like these pages were full of spam
>>>>> or anything...
>>>>>
>>>>> One possible explanation is that this is an undesirable side effect of
>>>>> some other totally legitimate takedown. There are a number of orphaned, and
>>>>> conceivably even bogus ISOC pages out there, and which were reported as
>>>>> such, and the baby is now being thrown out with the bathwater.
>>>>>
>>>>> Or, it just could be increased brand vigilance byISOC staff, with the
>>>>> same result.
>>>>>
>>>>> It can't be 100% ignored that staff have systematically carried out a
>>>>> program to disengage from ISOC.LIVE, and me personally since removing my
>>>>> funding a year back, and this could be part of that.
>>>>>
>>>>> But, most likely, it's probably just Meta's stupid AI.
>>>>>
>>>>> Nevertheless, it is a fact of life.
>>>>>
>>>>> *===========WHAT TO DO?=========*
>>>>>
>>>>> There are a couple of things Chapter leaders can do.
>>>>>
>>>>> 1) Review the admin roles on the Chapter's FB page, and remove anybody
>>>>> who is not necessary. That includes me(  I am restricted from streaming
>>>>> anyway at present.) People can always be re-added as 'task manager'.
>>>>>
>>>>> 2) Read these detailed instructions from ChatGPT
>>>>> <https://chatgpt.com/share/6808c434-0970-8013-a95d-2ce70fae59d7> on
>>>>> how to safeguard your page.
>>>>>
>>>>> These instructions include NOT using the plain ISOC Symbol as an
>>>>> avatar, but in turn how to make an alternative that conforms to ISOC's
>>>>> brand guidelines is not obvious.
>>>>>
>>>>> What ChatGPT does suggest is that ISOC itself recognizes chapter pages
>>>>> by linking to them from the main ISOC page.
>>>>>
>>>>> Joly
>>>>> --
>>>>> --------------------------------------
>>>>> Joly MacFie  +12185659365
>>>>> --------------------------------------
>>>>> -
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> --------------------------------------
>>>> Joly MacFie  +12185659365
>>>> --------------------------------------
>>>> -
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>
>>
>> --
>> --------------------------------------
>> Joly MacFie  +12185659365
>> --------------------------------------
>> -
>> _______________________________________________
>> As a Chapter Leader, you are automatically added to the Internet
>> Society’s Chapter Leaders Community Group and the Chapter Delegates e-list,
>> which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society Chapter Portal
>> (AMS): https://community.internetsociety.org.
>> The Internet Society has a legitimate interest to communicate with its
>> chapter leaders, you will therefore remain subscribed for the duration of
>> your term and will be unsubscribed automatically when your term ends.
>> Please note that the archive of this list is publicly accessible and may
>> be viewed by anyone. By submitting information to this list and
>> contributing to the communications, you acknowledge that the contents will
>> be publicly visible.
>> View the Internet Society Code of Conduct:
>> https://www.internetsociety.org/become-a-member/code-of-conduct/
>>
>
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