Hello fellow THRers, I apologize for the lack of participation here lately. This is an open letter to the CEO of Facebook, Inc. regarding my account being recently disabled. Hopefully I will get a response and this will make a great impact for the 2nd amendment community. Facebook is currently the 6th most visited website on the internet.
To: [email protected]
Mr. Mark Zuckerberg
Founder and CEO, Facebook, Inc.
Mr. Zuckerberg,
Recently, my Facebook profile was brought to the attention of the national media as possibly being that of the notorious Virginia Tech shooter. Of course, that was a falsehood and turned out to be an interesting experience of its own. However, a fair number of questions have risen as a result of me being falsely accused as the possible Virginia Tech shooter, one of which involves the stance of your company on firearms.
In my correspondence with your customer support representatives, it was deemed that “any pictures of people posing with guns or arsenals in a non-sporting context are inherently threatening to other users”. This in effect, is a violation of your Terms of Use.
Yesterday, my Facebook account was disabled. As dismayed as I was in this decision I was more upset particularly at one of the reasons cited for the disabling of my account. According to your records, in the past I had repeatedly posted “inappropriate content”, which I can only assume to be pictures of my firearms in a “non-sporting” context.
As awesome as your company is, I would have to respectfully disagree with this decision. Firearms have long played a critical role in the heritage of this nation. I strongly urge you to reconsider your opinion that firearms play no more of a role in this nation than simply just “sporting”. For example, consider the instances of collecting or personal protection. I am currently federally licensed as a Firearms Collector of Curio and Relic eligible firearms. This basically means that I am allowed to collect antique firearms that are more than 50 years old. Secondly, I would like to believe that many individuals, including myself, in this great nation employ firearms as a means of personal protection. I for one know several young ladies who carry firearms daily as a means of self protection.
The two examples of responsible firearm ownership that I have cited have been deemed by your actions to be offensive to the Facebook community. To simply collect for one’s pleasure or to protect oneself are in themselves, not offensive actions. My letter of appeal to you, as the CEO of Facebook, is for you to reconsider your stance on these issues. In the wake of the Virginia Tech shooting, it is an easy reaction to remove all firearm related photos from your site in an effort to minimize those that may do things as tragic and senseless as the aforementioned school shooting. However, this is an overreaction and in doing so, you limit the freedoms of the vast majority of those who are law abiding and whom deplore the type of violence that occurred at Virginia Tech. I ask this of you in the utmost respect, to take into consideration the large communities of individuals whose actions are currently being considered “offensive” on Facebook.
On the other hand, I would like to thank you for this unique community that you provide as well as to commend you on its success. Facebook holds a critical niche in the online community that you surely must be proud of. Perhaps if you are looking for another developer, I know this gun crazy person who is absolutely nuts about Facebook…
Lastly, I would like to formally invite you out to a shooting range if you are ever in the Washington DC area. It would be a great honor for me to introduce you to the culture of firearms here in Virginia. I believe that you would really enjoy it and see that there are many uses and purposes for firearms that extend far beyond that of a "sporting" nature.
This invitation is extended to all Facebook officers as well as its original co-founders. If you are receptive to this invitation, as a gesture of gratitude from the 2nd amendment community, I would like for you to have 1 of the 15 of my highly valued Russian Mosin Nagants M44s. These were featured on my Facebook profile to later end up on Fox News, CNN and ABC News. Since Facebook inadvertently played a role in contributing to my notoriety, I felt that it would be only proper for you to share a piece of that history.
I look forward to your response and urge you to carefully reconsider your opinion. As CEO of a successful emerging company, the great burden of making such decisions rests on you. I hope you can take my thoughts into consideration and thank you for your attention to this matter.
Very Respectfully,
Wayne Chiang
wchiang [at] vt.edu
