Church and State blog: Facebook's 66th block (DAY 8). Declan's claim against the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's has not been dismissed on the papers. We have received the hearing date of 27 March from the court (WITH UPDATE 25/4/2020)

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Facebook's 66th block (DAY 8). Declan's claim against the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's has not been dismissed on the papers. We have received the hearing date of 27 March from the court (WITH UPDATE 25/4/2020)

Our Church and State website has no less than 59 Nobel Laureates on it despite the never-ending assault on our email; see paragraph 2 of 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).

Limits have been placed on Network for Church Monitoring
Stories from your Page are not being shown in News Feed. This could be due to activity from your Page that doesn't comply with Facebook's policies. This limit is temporary and expires Wednesday, 18 March 2020 at 08:06.

"We wish to appeal your decision today to put limits on Network for Church Monitoring without an explanation - or on this occasion an explanation so vague that it cannot be said to constitute an explanation at all. To the best of our knowledge, our Page complies with Facebook's policies. We ensure that our Page complies with all applicable laws, statutes and regulations, and not one of our postings has been identified as failing any of these standards."

This is Facebook's 66th block (8 days) against Church and State since 1 December 2015, and as usual without an explanation (once again being vague to the point of containing no actual information). Not one article has been identified that violates Facebook's policies or the law. This third block on stories from our Facebook page has brought the page to a standstill. This year is also the first year since I created the page in January 2011 that it has been penalised in this manner; usually, and this still applies, I am blocked without explanation from posting in groups I belong to.[1] Facebook is also maintaining one half of a double administrative block against me. They are still blocking a listing of all the groups I belong to (322 days), having last November removed a block on scheduling posts from our page after 77 days. It has to be indisputable that with any sort of level playing field from Facebook, Church and State would have far exceeded the 5.7 million hits we had last year. In addition to their blocks throughout the year, we had such a low reach since the beginning of October 2019 that the page became a virtual right-off for the rest of the year.[2] And this is not to mention over 2,400 blocks on access to Church and State since 26 July 2016, including 28 full distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks last year that lasted for as long as 54 hours at a time. Our top five articles have 6.4 million Facebook likes/shares between them.

UPDATE 25 April (10.37am): No let-up from Facebook! Their 66th block was lifted on 18 March (8 days). However, subsequently, I have been unable to schedule any post that has the number 1 in the time slot (which I did not treat as a block per se), and four times I have been blocked without reason or explanation from posting in groups and once from scheduling posts.[3] I still can't access the listing of all the groups I belong to (359 days). In fact, today records as the first day free of their ninth double block this year, which followed on foot of their second treble block since 10 March. The never-ending assault on our email too continues unabated; see my post of 16 March, Email interception: Now we're finding reply emails in our spam box! It raises the question to what extent our incoming email is also being sabotaged. Our close colleagues have known for years that emailing us is not reliable. This flagship post highlights the targeting of our emails to Nobel laureates, US National Medal of Science laureates and knighted professors in particular. It also reveals a 2010 parliamentary letter to former Prime Minister Theresa May (then Home Secretary) about the interception of our email. Last Wednesday Declan tried emailing ten Nobel laureates. Not one received his email, according to Mailtrack.

With the background as provided above, the Heaveys now are facing an eviction notice from their landlord, Peabody Trust housing association. The tenancy is a flat, which falls under the Mayor of London's Rough Sleepers Initiative. Pardoning my intrusion into English law, but in fairness there does not appear to be any reason for the eviction, relying apparently entirely on the discretion of the landlord.

Joseph R. Carvalko, Esq., American lawyer

Declan's claim against the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's before Senior Circuit Judge Marc Dight CBE at the Central London County Court in the Royal Courts of Justice has been adjourned to a date to be fixed.

21 April: Peabody Trust: Declan again asks Peabody CEO Brendan Sarsfield's personal response executive for an explanation for the non-renewal of our tenancy. We are in a flat that is part of the Mayor of London's Rough Sleepers Initiative

"Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out." Edd Doerr (1930-2020), (then) President, Americans for Religious Liberty

http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/

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Footnotes updated 24 April 2020

[1] During Facebook's 66th block (the subject of this blog post), they also blocked me from posting in groups I belong to. This additional block below stands recorded as their 67th block (3 days) against Church and State since 1 December 2015. This is the usual Facebook block that comes out of the blue without explanation for variable time periods. For example, in March 2018, this block prevented me from posting Church and State articles in groups four times for a total of 29 out of 31 days.

[2] The suppression of our post reach on Church and State articles recommenced on 18 March 2020 immediately following the removal of Facebook's 66th block, which for the third time this year prevented stories from our page being shown in News Feed. It has continued to varying degrees to this day.

[3] I have subsequently recorded Facebook's 68th block (2 days), 69th block (1 day), 70th block (2 days), 71st block (2 days), and 72nd block (1 day). The 71st block was on scheduling posts, and the other four blocks on my posting in groups I belong to.

Church and State

MAYOR OF LONDON RSI PROPERTY
DAY 406 IN A WEEKLY PERIODIC TENANCY
SUBJECT TO A SECTION 21 NOTICE

(SEE PARA. 3 BELOW)

1. Our 308 Honorary Associates include 20 Nobel Prize laureates. Declan and I are engaged in a project that deals with the publication of issues significant to social policy in a number of key areas, e.g., climate change, population, futurism, atheism, and free speech. Established as Network for Church Monitoring, a non-profit company limited by guarantee, our main publication, found at the website, Church and State, calls attention to subjects, not the least which have been critical of the interaction between religious and secular institutions. We have been the target of numerous threats and actions, e.g., the former resulting in threats to Declan's life, and the latter, which have led to vandalism. The various incidents are on record with the police and other official agencies.

2. There are no less than 63 Nobel Prize laureates on the Church and State website from 20 Honorary Associates, eight articles, nine book excerpts and 33 petition signatories. (For example, one Nobel laureate signed our Nobel petition in support of human embryonic stem cell research and gave us permission to excerpt from one of his books.) Our list of associates also includes 18 US National Medal laureates, and six Turing Award laureates (the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in computer science). We have published one article and excerpted from the books of seven members of the British House of Lords. And there are 31 knighted professors on the site from 13 Honorary Associates, one book excerpt and 21 petition signatories. These figures are despite the never-ending assault on our email (this link reveals the targeting of our emails to, among others, a close colleague in Washington, DC as well as space advocates and Nobel laureates).

3. This is Day 406 for us living under the threat to life of a 'no fault' eviction by Peabody Trust.[1] We live in a Mayor of London's Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI) property. Peabody's appalling new terms of tenancy have forced us into an unstable weekly periodic tenancy that poses a threat to Declan's life and inhibits our ability to exercise our rights. Declan accumulated quite a history with the Housing Ombudsman Service before he received the Ombudsman's decision not to investigate a referral from Lyn Brown MP on jurisdictional grounds. The Ombudsman was asked to consider whether or not our tenancy has been renewed like for like; and whether, if not, it should be in light of the landlord having accused us of not signing a like-for-like agreement. The Equality and Human Rights Commission will not accept a referral of discrimination from Ms Brown, the Commission's helpline (EASS) having grossly distorted the complaint against Peabody. We no longer have pro se access to the courts (see next paragraph).

4. This eviction matter came before District Judge Ruth Fine at the Central London County Court on 30 June 2020, when both counsel for St Mungo's (the charity in effective control of our tenancy) and Declan presented their positions. Declan lost the case and was ordered to pay £1,850 in costs. A publishing colleague in America cleared these costs within 24 hours of my blog post about this hearing for strike out on a related issue that was the essence of the claim, i.e., that St Mungo's would take a phone call to confirm that we are clients of the Mayor of London's RSI programme. Within a week of the hearing, St Mungo's had agreed to take this phone call for us both, the Court having ruled that they were not obliged to do so despite our circumstances. This time we escaped bankruptcy (counsel for St Mungo's asked for £3,407.50 in costs), but consider that to seek pro se access to justice in the courts has become far too dangerous for us. Declan currently has before the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman the decision of the Information Commissioner that allows St Mungo's to continue processing coercive support plans without our knowledge or consent and that also poses a threat to his life.

5. When it comes to traffic, we have had 10.7 million hits in the past three years on Facebook; however, I left the platform on 13 March 2021 for one year rather than risk being banned for life. It is indisputable that with any sort of level playing field Church and State would have far exceeded 2.5 million hits last year. In addition to a large variety of blocks without explanation, Facebook had so severely restricted our Page's distribution by October 2020 that it was almost as good as an unpublished page.[2] Currently, we are up to their 85th block since 1 December 2015, and as usual without an explanation. This block records as one half of their 3rd double block in the first five weeks of this year that lasted 60 days. Our traffic has also been curtailed by over 2.5K blocks on access to Church and State since 26 July 2016, including 29 full distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks since 17 May 2019 that have lasted for as long as 54 hours at a time.[3] About 70% of our hits are from Americans.

"This is precisely the hard hitting kind of response needed to clarify the unfair way Facebook is treating your highly reputable site." Don Collins, Founder, International Services Assistance Fund, Washington DC

Last updated: 26/06/21

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[1] Once a fixed term has elapsed, the landlord has the option to seek eviction even if the tenant has upheld their obligations in full (though of course the landlord must still apply for and obtain a county court order).

[2] 17/10/20: We have permission to publish this ISAF letter of 30 September to Facebook COO Sheryl Samberg. Facebook has so severely restricted our Page's distribution since 4 September that it's almost as good as an unpublished page

[3] Since October 2019, we have been defining a full DDoS attack as having such a high volume of up to 4-minute blocks on access to Church and State that we don't bother recording them all.

Church and State blog

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Facebook's 66th block (DAY 8). Declan's claim against the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's has not been dismissed on the papers. We have received the hearing date of 27 March from the court (WITH UPDATE 25/4/2020)

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