Unsocial Media

The day before yesterday, for the first time in my life, I was blocked from a social media page. I was unceremoniously ‘unfriended’ by the Blackbird Leys Community Facebook group following a request that my articles on Black Lives Matter and the Rhodes Must Fall protests be posted. I had hoped that my contribution would go some way to help de-escalate the unprecedented air of racial disunity currently stalking the City’s streets, I was therefore saddened, if not surprised, when my request was denied, because, ‘long political discussions are not appropriate’. 

This, in itself, is fair enough. I fully understand the desire to keep politically neutral what is in effect an online community notice board. However, I had been given the impression that a precedent had been set by the inclusion on the page of posts promoting both white nationalist Tommy Robinson and the Black Lives Matter group – a group that I believe is being used, locally at least, as a vehicle for divisive black nationalism. In response to my enquiry as to why racial nationalists have been given a platform while my articles, arguing for working class solidarity, regardless of ethnicity, have been effectively censored, I received the response: ‘a few people have messaged me and find your views offensive’ and ‘I am guided by a number of members who have asked for your removal’. Unfortunately, and probably not coincidentally, before I could ask what it is that members actually find offensive, I was blocked. I can only assume, by the unwillingness of the administrator to discuss the matter, that different standards apply to those whose political views she and her circle of friends disagree with. 

I sympathise with anyone who would view this issue as a parochial one (and a less than riveting parochial one at that). I would also agree with anyone who sees social media as part of the problem. To quote a friend: ‘why waste your time, it’s just a place for people to shout abuse at each other’ and it’s hard to disagree. Social media is not the place for a productive debate because people are generally deaf to opposing views and locked in their own bubbles – a problem only compounded by the prevailing culture of offence taking. When all is said and done, there is no substitute for concrete community work and though Facebook et al can, at times, be harnessed to promote grassroots activism, usually the opposite is true and it is used as a substitute for action. So while I won’t waste too much time on this issue, before moving on, I think it is worth probing a little further, as I’m concerned that there may be wider implications to this particular story (especially if similar cases are being played out elsewhere) with regards to issues of freedom of speech and the ability to effectively combat extremism.

I have been publicly arguing against divisive identity politics and for uniting along class lines for over two decades now. In the Town Hall, as an elected Blackbird Leys representative with the Independent Working Class Association, I consistently objected to tax payers’ money being spent on projects based on ethnicity and religion. I delivered a speech to the Oxford Trades Council on the IWCA’s problems with the political strategy of multiculturalism. I’ve written a number of articles against divisive identity politics that were communicated regularly to thousands of Blackbird Leys residents through our community newsletter. I have appeared in the Oxford Mail many times making the same points, I wrote a pro-working class critique of Black History Month that was published in the Leys News community newspaper and I was invited onto local community radio show, OX105 FM (incidentally staffed by a dynamic team who all happen to be black) to counter the then deputy leader of the BNP, Simon Derby, who they had invited on to the programme. In the event, Derby bailed at the prospect of having to debate with an anti-fascist activist who hadn’t signed up to the dominant identity politics narrative, so I took the opportunity to discuss the symbiotic relationship between black nationalism, Islamism, white supremacy and fascism.

But that was then, this is now.

The IWCA years in Blackbird Leys were characterised (from our end at least) by an atmosphere of honest, open debate, transparency and accountability. This was no doubt fostered by a (possibly sometimes swaggering) confidence in the validity of our arguments and the progressive necessity of our message. The idea of shutting down an argument because someone felt personally offended would have not only appeared preposterous, but would have been seen as a cowardly abdication of duty and responsibility to the community. In stark contrast, the political climate today is charged with an atmosphere of conformism, self-censorship and the silencing of dissent.

While the direct responsibility for denying a platform to the views expressed in my Blackbird Leys Community Spirit articles lies with well meaning liberals, it’s notable that, as soon as I was safely blocked, two characters posted to gloat. The immediacy of their response indicates that they had been watching the discussion between the moderator and myself, but felt wary of putting their heads above the parapet while I was there to counter them. One of these individuals I’d already encountered, when I took issue with his support for the Tommy Robinson post. He’d had a lot to say for himself, including bragging about how much support there was on the estate for the views of Robinson, yet, unsurprisingly, other than inane abuse, this keyboard warrior had no answers when pushed to expand on his statements. I know nothing about his friend other than the fact that he has a photo of Margaret Thatcher as his social media profile picture. And there’s the thing; the problem with closing the lid on constructive debate, is that it raises a distinct danger of opening Pandora’s Box.