A social media event page that inspired more than 2 million people to come together and raid a highly classified military base was removed by Facebook in a clear miscarriage of online justice, then brought back to life after Facebook claimed the unpublishing was a mistake.
According to CNET, the “Storm Area 51” page was originally taken down for violating Facebook’s policies.
Matty Roberts, the event creator, posted Facebook’s reasoning for taking the page down. According to the screenshot, Facebook removed the page because the event “went against our Community Standards. Repeated Community Standard violations can lead to your Page getting unpublished.” Who the hell knows what that means.
Later, a Facebook representative claimed removing the page was just one big mistake and the event was restored to its rightful place online. A government cover-up? Perhaps…
Despite these setbacks, Roberts is now planning an Area 51 festival in Nevada to take place the same day the tongue-in-cheek raid was supposed to – Sept. 20 – though, not at Area 51.
Roberts also posted an event page for the Area 51 festival but that too was taken down.
“I think it’s pretty reckless of Facebook, especially because I’m trying to direct people away from storming the base,” Roberts said in reaction to both pages being removed. “And now I’ve lost my entire audience.”
“Storm Area 51” is especially famous for its description section with lines like, “If we naruto run, we can move faster than their bullets,” and, “Lets see them aliens.” The event, (WHICH IS A JOKE, JUST TO BE CLEAR), even caught the attention of celebrities like Snooki and Lil Nas.
Will a raid or festival ever take place? Only time will tell.
Amanda Push
