Sunday, September 30, 2018

Facebook: The social network's 47th block against our Church and State website since 1 December 2015. No explanation provided as usual (WITH UPDATE - DAY 2 1/10/2018)

Facebook it would appear really is just playing games with no real intent to find real culprits.
-Don Collins, President of ISAF, an NGO dedicated to helping women

Our Church and State website has no less than 40 Nobel Prize winners on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).

Facebook does not have a political bias? The social network's blocks against our Church and State website have gone from 47 days in 2017 to 138 days so far this year (5 out of 9 months).



Update 1/10/2018 (11.37am):
Facebook blocks (in days)

January 2018: 16 days
February 2018: 15 days
March 2018: 29 days
April 2018: 17 days
May 2018: No blocks in May
June 2018: 14 days
July 2018: 17 days
August 2018: 11 days
September 2018: 12 days
October 2018: 7 days (until 7 October)

4 September: Fighting for survival in London: Facebook's concerted campaign against our Church and State website shows no signs of waning (WITH UPDATE 1/10/2018: re Block 47 DAY 2)

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Has Facebook now also dismantled my ability to post anything in my Network for Church Monitoring page? Declan had just brought his complaint of unfair treatment against Newham Council to the attention of its CEO (WITH UPDATE - DAY 2 27/9/2018)



I'm back to technical problems with my Facebook Network for Church Monitoring page. Since this evening I have been unable to post anything in the page or schedule posts, and it remains to be seen whether or not my 3 scheduled posts for later tonight have also been blocked. (I can, in fact, only share articles to the page from other Facebook pages and walls and websites with a Facebook plugin.) And this is in addition to being blocked without explanation from posting in groups 20-27 September; see my blog post of 10 August, Fighting for survival in London: Facebook's concerted campaign against our Church and State website shows no signs of waning (WITH UPDATE 21/9/2018: re Block 46 DAY 2). A couple of hours before I discovered that I could not post anything in my Facebook page, Declan wrote the following to Newham Council CEO Katherine Kerswell:

Katherine Kerswell
Chief Executive
London Borough of Newham

Address removed for email


26 September 2018

Dear Ms Kerswell,

Please find below my formal Stage 1 complaint of unfair treatment dated 11 September 2018.[1]

I am still waiting for Newham Council Complaints to even acknowledge receipt of my complaint. This effectively denies me the Council's internal appeals processes, which further compounds my complaint and only leaves me with the Pre-Action Protocol for Judicial Review by way of recourse within the next month.

I can confirm that I am in receipt of a letter from the Mayor of London's Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI) programme indicating that this is a "tenancy sustainment matter"; and, as such, poses a threat to life.

Please can the Council reply to me as soon as practicable?

Yours sincerely,

Declan Heavey
Managing Director
Network for Church Monitoring

[1] For this complaint against Newham Council, see my blog post of 11 September: Newham Council: Declan will never give up his fight to work again with children with learning disabilities in a sport setting despite the difficulties he is experiencing

Update 27 September (11.21am): To post a Church and State article to my Facebook Network for Church Monitoring page, I still have do so by sharing it from our Church and State website (DAY 2). This block was only lifted momentarily last night after I reported it to Facebook. However, on the flip slide, this morning we have a new name to add to our 13 authors and 184 Honorary Associates. No doubt today will be another all action day!



Is Edward Snowden a Hero or Criminal? This is a solid documentary called #Citizenfour that may influence your thinking either way:



JOIN THE CONVERSATION #CITIZENFOUR

From My Picks:

8 May 2018: Threat to life: Updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Today we are cut off the internet for a half an hour


http://churchandstate.org.uk/honorary-associates/

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Facebook: The social network's 46th block against our Church and State website since 1 December 2015. No explanation provided as usual (WITH UPDATE - DAY 2 21/9/2018)

Facebook it would appear really is just playing games with no real intent to find real culprits.
-Don Collins, President of ISAF, an NGO dedicated to helping women

Our Church and State website has no less than 40 Nobel Prize winners on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).



Update 21/9/2018 (9.32pm):
Facebook blocks (in days)

January 2018: 16 days
February 2018: 15 days
March 2018: 29 days
April 2018: 17 days
May 2018: No blocks in May
June 2018: 14 days
July 2018: 17 days
August 2018: 11 days
September 2018: 11 days (until 27 September)

10 August: Fighting for survival in London: Facebook's concerted campaign against our Church and State website shows no signs of waning (WITH UPDATE 21/9/2018: re Block 46 DAY 2)

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Now it is my laptop that is targeted

Our Church and State website has no less than 40 Nobel Prize winners on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).

Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms formulates what is the core of free speech. "Everyone has the right to freedom of expression." In an important interpretation of this article, the European Court of Human Rights in Handyside v. UK (1976) indicated that this "freedom of expression" should be construed as follows. It "is applicable not only to 'information' or 'ideas' that are favourably received, or regarded as inoffensive, or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population." Such are the demands of that pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no "democratic society" (see Cliteur, 2010).

British Telecom is one of the world's leading communications services companies. Declan pays BT £70 per month (£850 per year) for Superfast Fibre 2 Unlimited broadband (average speed 67Mb). We're well used to particular laptops being targeted with little or no internet speed, usually Declan's no. 1 laptop; see my blog post of 9 August, British Telecom: Are drastically reduced internet speeds and 45-minute internet cuts to be the new norm? Today it has been my no. 1 laptop. It kicked off at its worst this morning and I have had to rely on my back up laptop for most of the day. Declan has had no such problems today on either of his two laptops.



On my no. 1 laptop I have had to wait several minutes for a page to fully load:



We usually have an internet speed of about 70Mb across all four of our laptops.


British Telecom in bold

Paragraph 41 of Declan's updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

41. In October 2017, SiteGround's solicitors told the Applicant to remove a popular article from the Church and State website for alleged copyright infringement or the site would be disabled by SiteGround pending his legal challenge by counter notice. The Applicant removed the article even though it had a Creative Commons licence applied to it, as do all Addicting Info articles. The Applicant's wife's Church and State blog has been attacked in various ways over the years: links have been broken and images exchanged, deleted or temporarily removed. So too have the Applicant and his wife's computers. In December 2015, the Applicant's wife's laptop was rendered incapable of publishing material on the Church and State website. She could not create a WordPress post, add images, or click on most of the platform's buttons. She had posted a video of the attack on her blog before the laptop was returned to normal functioning the following afternoon. Since September 2017, the internet connection speed on any one of their four laptops has been reduced from anything between 70-74Mbps to 0Mbps, usually disabling the targeted laptop, and for up to three weeks to date. The laptop most targeted for this form of attack is the Applicant's main laptop that cost him £600 in January 2017. Their internet connection has been cut 184 times since 26 May 2017, most recently today on 8 May 2018 for a half an hour (the third cut of this duration). The Applicant pays British Telecom £850 per year for broadband. He has documented communication with BT Executive Level Complaints showing there has been no problem with his phone line. (Emphasis added.)



Is Edward Snowden a Hero or Criminal? This is a solid documentary called #Citizenfour that may influence your thinking either way:



JOIN THE CONVERSATION #CITIZENFOUR

From My Picks:

6 August (previous blog post): DAY 67 UKA DBS check: Declan has to raise an Escalation with the Metropolitan Police if he wants to keep volunteering with young people with disabilities (WITH UPDATE - DAY 68 7/8/2018)


http://churchandstate.org.uk/honorary-associates/

Wednesday, September 05, 2018

Newham Ability Camp (Special Olympics GB): Declan's voluntary position working with children and adults with learning disabilities twice a week since 13 June 2018 is terminated with immediate effect



5 September 20018

Dear Declan,

Thank you for your emails and my sincerest apologies for the delay in responding.

I'm really pleased that you've completed your DBS and are now able to volunteer in local clubs / organisations.

Unfortunately we can no longer offer you a place volunteering at the Newham Ability Camp.

There is a new Principal here at the college and as such we have been given greater requirements to directly link the College students who are studying Sport and Leadership here at the College, with volunteering opportunities in our partnership clubs.

As the College offers the club a 50% discount on the facility hire The Newham Ability Camp is now bound by an agreement that all additional volunteers at the club are sourced directly from the College student body in order to develop them further.

I'm very sorry this means that we can no longer have you involved at the Newham Ability Camp as a volunteer, as the club's financial security is dependent upon us honouring our agreement with the College.

Perhaps now you have your UK Athletics Level 1 Coaching License you can explore further volunteering opportunities in this field.

I would highly recommend contacting Colin King at the Bromley by Bow Centre, as they run a Para-Legacy Agents programme which is designed specifically for this purpose and you are already on the right track.

https://www.bbbc.org.uk/services/get-into-sport/

colin.king@bbbc.org.uk
07460 862886
020 8709 9713

We wish you all the best for the future.

Kindest regards,

Beth Harris
Treasurer / Secretary Newham Ability Camp

17 August 2018: UK Athletics: Has UKA Welfare cost Declan his voluntary position with children and adults with learning disabilities? (WITH UPDATE 18/8/2018)

Tuesday, September 04, 2018

Fighting for survival in London: Facebook's concerted campaign against our Church and State website shows no signs of waning (WITH UPDATE 15/11/2018: re Block 50 DAY 1)

This is precisely the hard hitting kind of response needed to clarify the unfair way Facebook is treating your highly reputable site.
-Don Collins, President of ISAF, an NGO dedicated to helping women

Our Church and State website has no less than 40 Nobel Prize winners on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).


Facebook does not have a political bias? The social network's blocks against our Church and State website have gone from 47 days in 2017 to 122 days so far this year (4 out of 8 months). Last March they blocked me from posting Church and State articles in groups four times (29 out of 31 days), and all without explanation. Tonight I received this notification of their 45th block against our Church and State website since 1 December 2015:



These notifications without an explanation come out of the blue. There's absolutely no way of knowing whether or not the rest of this month will be another wipeout from Facebook, and without an explanation being given.
Re: Facebook

Paragraph 40 of Declan's updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

40. The Applicant's wife has encountered numerous problems with Facebook. In August 2011, then Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone wrote to Facebook on the Applicant's behalf, asking that they explain why she had been barred (see Annex 19, p. 47). The bar was subsequently lifted; however, since December 2015, Facebook has blocked her from posting to groups 37 times, and for up to 12 days at a time (see Annex 22, p. 50). In December 2015, Shadow Home Office Minister Lyn Brown made an enquiry on the Applicant's behalf to Facebook UK Managing Director Steve Hatch asking if he could offer an explanation as to the terms and conditions the Applicant's wife was alleged to have broken twice previously (see Annex 20, p. 48). To the best of the Applicant's knowledge, Mr. Hatch did not respond to this letter. The Applicant's wife only ever posts to groups that are specific to an article's subject and that she is well familiar with, and she only ever posts articles that she has already published on the Church and State website. This concerted campaign against the Church and State website escalated in November 2017 after the site topped more than 3 million hits over the previous eleven months [emphasis added]. In March 2018, the Applicant's wife was blocked from posting to groups four times (for 29 out of 31 days), and all without explanation. The following is taken from her complaint to Facebook dated 28 January 2018 (see Annex 21, p. 49):

"Seldom has Facebook made it clear why I am being blocked. Today's block records as the 30th time Facebook has blocked me from posting to groups since 1 December 2015. The only explanation given at the time of one of these blocks has been "spam" (received today); and Facebook has only responded to four of my previous 29 appeals, citing "technical problems" in each instance. Nonetheless, I have been blocked from posting to groups a total of 43 days (and counting) in the last three months alone."

Updated complaint to the United Nations: https://issuu.com/lolaheavey/docs/un-complaint-may-2018






Facebook UK Managing Director Steve Hatch



UPDATE 15 November (7.27pm): When it comes to blocking me from posting Church and State articles in groups, Facebook's 45th block since 1 December 2015 was lifted on 6 September (3 days). I have, however, subsequently been blocked 5 times from doing the same (an additional 41 days), most recently from this evening until 22 November and without an explanation as usual.
Facebook blocks

2015
1st 1-4 December 2015 (4 days)
2nd 5-7 December 2015 (3 days)
Total: 7 days
---------------------------------------------------
2016
3rd 6-9 January 2016 (4 days)
4th 12-15 January 2016 (4 days)
5th 20-22 January 2016 (3 days)
6th 13-16 February 2016 (4 days)
7th 23-26 March 2016 (4 days)
8th 20-23 May 2016 (4 days)
9th 25-30 May 2016 (6 days)
10th 1-3 July 2016 (3 days)
11th 7-8 September 2016 (2 days)
12th 21-22 September 2016 (3 days)
13th 27-28 September 2016 (2 days)
14th 29 September - 3 October 2016 (5 days)
15th 4-5 October 2016 (2 days)
16th 18-23 October 2016 (6 days)
17th 9-14 December 2016 (6 days)
Total: 58 days
---------------------------------------------------
2017
18th 4-6 January 2017 (3 days)
19th 20-23 January 2017 (4 days)
20th 17 May 2017 (1 day)
21st 19 June 2017 (1 day)
22nd 19-21 August 2017 (3 days)
23rd 19 September 2017 (1 day)
24th 28 October - 8 November 2017 (12 days)
25th 23-30 November 2017 (8 days)
26th 7-8 December 2017 (2 days)
27th 10-17 December 2017 (8 days)
28th 28 December 2017 - 31 December 2018 (4 days)
Total: 47 days
---------------------------------------------------
2018
28th (cont.) 1-4 January 2018 (4 days)
29th 16-23 January 2018 (8 days)
30th 28 January - 4 February 2018 (8 days)
31st 12-19 February 2018 (8 days)
32nd 26 February - 5 March 2018 (8 days)
33rd 7-14 March 2018 (8 days)
34th 16-23 March 2018 (8 days)
35th 24 March - 1 April 2018 (9 days)
36th 4-11 April 2018 (8 days)
37th 14-21 April 2018 (8 days)
38th 2-5 June 2018 (4 days)
39th 13-14 June 2018 (2 days)
40th 17-24 June 2018 (8 days)
41st 10-17 July 2018 (8 days)
42nd 21-28 July 2018 (8 days)
43rd 31 July - 3 August 2018 (4 days)
44th 10-17 August 2018 (8 days)
45th 4-6 September 2018 (3 days)
46th 20-27 September 2018 (8 days)
47th 30 September - 7 October 2018 (8 days)
48th 12-20 October 2018 (9 days)
49th 2-9 November 2018 (8 days)
50th 15-22 November 2018 (8 days) (ongoing)
Total: 163 days

January 2018: 16 days
February 2018: 15 days
March 2018: 29 days
April 2018: 17 days
May 2018: No blocks in May
June 2018: 14 days
July 2018: 17 days
August 2018: 11 days
September 2018: 12 days
October 2018: 16 days
November 2018: 16 days (until 22 November)

I previously reported problems with my Facebook Network for Church Monitoring page on 4 November (see here). Sometimes these sort of problems present themselves in clusters:

6 June 2018

Dear Facebook,

This afternoon I have been unable to post directly to my Page, schedule posts or view my scheduled posts. Please see the attached screenshot, which shows the removal of my facility to post directly to my Page and to view my scheduled posts.

I will not know until this evening whether or not my scheduled posts are posting.

Thank you in advance for your assistance in these matters.

Sincerely,
Lola Heavey
https://www.facebook.com/networkforchurchmonitoring/



Despite our distinguished list of 188 Honorary Associates from around the world, blocks on access to our Church and State website also continue unabated; see my blog post 27 June, SITE BLOCKS: The blocks on access to our Church and State website continue unabated (WITH UPDATE 15/11/2018: re 1,397th block since 26 July 2016). Then there's the daily targeting to fluctuating degrees of category pages throughout the site. For example, as I point out in my most recent blog post about Royal Mail misdelivering our mail, the second article below has more than 1/2 million Facebook likes/shares (not zero):



And it's not just Facebook blocks, blocks on access to our Church and State website, and the daily targeting to fluctuating degrees of category pages throughout the site. Since 26 May 2017, I have been recording Internet cuts to boot; see my blog post of 7 July, INTERNET CUTS: Are 45-minute Internet cuts to be the new norm? We pay British Telecom £850 per year for broadband (WITH UPDATE 15/11/2018: re 291st Internet cut since 26 May 2017). Perhaps of particular importance in all this is the fact that last November Church and State topped more than 3 million hits over the previous 11 months, and despite the even then far from level playing field.



From My Picks:

8 May 2018: Threat to life: Updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Today we are cut off the internet for a half an hour


http://churchandstate.org.uk/honorary-associates/