‘Diamond and Silk’ miffed at Facebook limitations
Sisters say online titan limiting pair’s pro-Trump videos
Trump-supporting sisters say Facebook has deemed their videos dangerous.
Two sisters famous for praising President Donald Trump say Facebook has deemed their videos dangerous.
Lynette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson are better known as “Diamond and Silk” to their hundreds of thousands of fans — one of whom is Trump.
The sisters, who are black, campaigned for him in an election in which blacks overwhelmingly voted against the Republican. And the sisters continue to defend him against accusations of racism. (”Build that wall; build it tall; protect us all before this country falls,” they once rapped)
The sisters’ on-camera style — Diamond (Hardaway) typically attacks Trump’s critics in lengthy rants while Silk (Richardson) chants affirmatively beside her — has brought them nearly 1.4 million followers on Facebook.
But in September, the sisters say, the social media giant began to prevent them from notifying followers of new videos and started to limit the spread of their posts.
It is unclear whether the pair was affected by Facebook’s various changes to its algorithm, which have affected other publishers, as well.
Diamond and Silk said they spent months trying to get an explanation from Facebook.
They shared excerpts of an email that they said the company sent them this month:
“The Policy team has came to the conclusion that your content and your brand has been determined unsafe to the community,” it read. “This decision is final and it is not appeal-able in any way.”
Diamond and Silk did not respond to a request for more details on the email.
Facebook has acknowledged sending the message, but it also said the missive was “inaccurate” — though it did not elaborate. When The Washington Post asked what “unsafe” meant and what content was problematic, spokeswoman Sarah Pollack replied with a company statement:
“We have communicated directly with Diamond And Silk about this issue. The message they received ... was inaccurate and not reflective of the way we communicate with our community and the people who run Pages on our platform. We have provided them with more information about our policies and the tools that are applicable to their Page and look forward to the opportunity to speak with them.”
The sisters don’t sound appeased by this and have turned the indignation they usually reserve for Democrats and liberals against Facebook.
“We don’t belong to no gang, so how are we unsafe to the community?” Diamond said last week on “Fox & Friends,” as Silk nodded. “It bothers me. It’s offensive. It’s appalling ... Why are you censoring two women of color? ... They’re trying to become a dictator.”