Facebook blocks Tokolos Stencils

GUERRILLA art collective Tokolos Stencils has slammed Facebook’s closure of its account as as censorship after the social media website closed it on the basis that it is “not a real person”.

The group said yesterday it believed the University of Cape Town had prevailed on Facebook to block it from the social media forum in response to its graffiti campaign on the campus to mark the third anniversary of the 2012 Marikana shooting and protest over the UCT retirement fund’s shareholding in mining company Lonmin to the tune R9.5 million.

“On Monday, exactly one week after our radical action on the campus in which we made known UCT’s collusion with white monopoly capital, and in particular Lonmin (# LonminHasBloodOnItsHands), Tokolos Stencils’ Facebook account was taken down by Facebook author- ities,” the group said in an e-mail.

“This is an act of censorship. Facebook has colluded with our haters to censor our work and our voice.”

It said it was not surprised and it was time to stop relying on corporations to enable free speech. “Such freedoms can never exist when they are man- aged by a capitalist ruling class.

“Whether or not we are able to get back on Facebook is irrelevant. Our struggle exists in the real world and we will continue to take political action in real life, on buildings, walls, pillars and statues, to bring forward our struggle for a better world.”

UCT did not comment. – ANA

PICTURE: ANA STOPPED: Tokolos Stencils art collective struck at UCT on the anniversary of the Marikana massacre.