Facebook Shuts Down Atheist Republic’s Page, Presumably For Being “Anti-Muslim” (Which Isn’t True)

***Update*** (10:17a): The Atheist Republic page is now back up and running. Thanks to whoever helped make this happen!

***Update 2*** (5/10): The Atheist Republic page has been unpublished yet again. This is absurd and Facebook should stop catering to the whims of Muslim activists trying to shut down the voice of dissent.

***Update 3*** (5/10): The Atheist Republic page is back up again. How long will Facebook keep this charade going?

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We mentioned yesterday that the Facebook pages for a few groups catering to ex-Muslims had suddenly become “restricted.” Their posts would no longer be seen by their own followers. It was supposed to be a temporary ban lasting a week.

Now one of those groups, Atheist Republic — which had more than 1,600,000 followers — has been shut down entirely.

As one commenter noted,

That page helped atheists in theocratic and highly religious countries find safe refuge and asylum. By shutting down the Atheist Republic page, Facebook is literally killing people. We need this page back up!!!

There’s reason to think this is part of a concerted effort to remove “anti-Muslim” pages. However, there is a difference between a page that criticized aspects of Islam and one that demeans or condemns all Muslims.

That page is removed. Evangelist bigot Franklin Graham‘s page is still up. I don’t get it.

If anyone has contacts at Facebook who can fix this, please get in touch with Allie Jackson, the CEO of Atheist Republic. You can also check out the group’s website here. At least Facebook can’t shut that down.

Facebook has a process for appealing an unpublished page. We’ll see if that goes anywhere.