WaPo: Facebook Deleting Wildfire Warnings In Tinder Dry West

Something is going on with Facebook that is removing
emergency information near disasters from the platform
as misleading spam. 

 Apparently, Facebook doesn't want people in the wildfire -prone west from receiving potentially life-saving fire information on the social media site.   

As the Washington Post reports: 

"During a scorching relentless wildfire season, Facebook has been flagging and removing dozens of posts containing links and screenshots from Watch Duty, a widely relied-upon wildfire alert app, as well as from federal and state agencies, according to interviews and Facebook conversations with nearly 20 residents, Facebook users and moderators, as well as employees from disaster response organizations."

Where this is happening, Facebook tells users they violated the "Community Standards on Spam" due to trying to get likes, follows shares or views in a "misleading way."

WaPo said it happens mostly with links including to official and reputable from Cal Fire, The U.S Forest Service, various sheriff's departments and AlertCalifornia, which monitors fires and other disasters in real time. 

The problem extends to other areas. Facebook removed emergency information on Hurricane Debby in Florida back in August. 

The problem seems to have developed, or at least intensified, back in June when something on Facebook changed, reports WaPo. Since then, emergency information has been disappearing as fast ast it's posted, it seems. 

I want to be charitable and say something is screwy with Facebook's algorithms or some damn thing. My conspiracy minded brain almost wants to think that accurate emergency information isn't a money maker.  After all, what makes money is engagement. Facebook and other social media platforms want controversy and argument as that brings in the revenue.

 Perhaps helpful information doesn't make people angry enough to "engage." 

It's interesting that there's so much spam and junk of Facebook, but this useful information during emergencies is being down. 

For their part, a Facebook spokesperson said the company is "investigating this issue and working quickly to address it."  Facebook said it was not aware of the problem until the Washington Post contacted them. 

Which might be a stretch, since people and organizations whose posts have been removed have been complaining of Facebook since June. Most of those people have never heard back from Facebook. 

Even when and if everything is working as it should, Facebook isn't necessarily the best place to seek emergency information during a disaster. But the social media platform is, as the Washington Post says, familiar, accessible and hyper-localized. It's a place where people can share information on evacuation orders, where shelters are, how to get meals, help for pets and to find missing relatives and friends. 

And let's face it: Facebook is the go-to for many people who are older or not especially tech-savvy.

Complicating the issue more is Facebook doesn't notify people if their posts have been taken down, so they're blissfully unaware. Also, people are now avoiding posting what could be valuable information because if there's too many supposed "violations," Facebook might entirely shut down the page permanently. 

I do hope this is just a problem with dumb algorithms and Facebook straightens it out quickly. I also hope WaPo follows up on this.