An Upper West Side woman claims she was banned from a popular moms Facebook group due to her pro-Israel profile photo. The page’s administrator had a different take.
Morgan Roslyn Cohn reported to ILTUWS last month that she was “blocked from the upper west side moms fb group because [her] fb profile picture says ‘I stand with Israel …’” The neighborhood mom went on to write that the group’s administrator informed her that she “was reported by multiple users for rude comments” but denied that she was rude, “especially on a public fb moms page.”
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She further informed ILTUWS that she was unaware of which comments the administrator was referring to and that other group members – including her husband – asked for proof of the reports. However, her husband was subsequently blocked too, and according to screenshots shared by the New York Post, was accused of “instigating discrimination” before he was also banished from the page.
“The administrator was very upset that I was calling her out for being antisemitic,” Cohn, a teacher, told the Post. “I would never [bully]. Why would I put my career at risk?” Her three to four year participation in the group ended when she was allegedly blocked on October 11, the day after she changed her profile picture.
ILTUWS reached out to page administrator Irene Johnson seeking comment regarding Cohn’s allegations. The same-day response was interesting:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=”16″] Get a real job. If you were a real intelligent journalist you would know that the group has over 28.5 thousand members who live in New York City where there is a large Jewish population and at least a quarter of that number have the flag of Israel or some form of I stand with Israel on their profile picture. You get ONE person make that accusation and you are sending me several emails within an hour.I don’t owe you an explanation but the group members know what happened. So don’t contact me again regarding this baseless accusation.
[/perfectpullquote]
(Note: ILTUWS sent two emails, one to each address listed for the group’s administrator.)
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Though the administrator stated her belief that the “group members know what happened,” confusion abounded in the admin’s post on October 11 – the day Cohn was reportedly banned from the group – wherein guidelines were established for permissible future commentary.
This post was edited four times and a few of the group’s members sought clarity about what type of statements would be tolerated.
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The administrator took to her page on November 10 to deny any discrimination and express her wish for contact “about the Palestinian families who are equally being called liars for sharing discrimination at work.”
I’m confused as to who is in the wrong. Is anybody? This is news? Isn’t this all private communication?
As a member of this group, I have seen blatant antisemitism go unchecked. This “admin” allows people with fake names to join the group. There’s no accountability for who is in, so join at your own risk.
Maybe they should just dissolve the entire group and “”that Admin should take her own advice and “get a real job.”
Kudos to ILTUWS for persisting!
It seems pretty clear that by writing a story about a single individual being removed from a very large chat group (which presumably isn’t terribly uncommon these days) this site is in fact creating the “drama” on which it is reporting.
A lot of red flags presented here by that Admin, who should be much more neutral in disposition if running a group. But yeah ultimately it’s a private group on social media so it’s hard to care as a public issue. Much worse cases of discrimination happening in the real world every day.
The administrator has deleted many pro Israel comments and posts, but not posts from the other side. She’s also posted her own anti Israel comments. She’s definitely not impartial.
I mean, you’re covering some petty spat on a “mothers'” facebook page, so in a way, the admin is right in telling you to get a real job.
What will you cover next? Two people arguing over a parking space on Columbus?
Keep your political comments to yourself. Those are the rules from Facebook.
And I totally agree in this situation!!!
You should be banned from all social media and take your flyers with you! LOL!
Uh…maybe we need to begin by realizing that Facebook pages are privately conceived and administered, and the administrators can do whatever they want, including deciding who to allow as a member and who to reject. Facebook pages are NOT “free speech” venues; they are privately owned and controlled groups. The response from the administrator, while admittedly a bit harsh, is absolutely correct. No one has any right to tell them how to run their page, including who to accept or reject. So everyone else should just STHU and move on.
Social media is working just as intended.