Westmoreland County Historical Society Says It Was Banned From Facebook For Using Word 'Militia'
WESTMORELAND COUNTY (KDKA) -- The Westmoreland County Historical Society said it has been kicked off Facebook after using a word that violates the social media giant's rules.
Run and maintained by the Westmoreland County Historical Society, Hanna's Town is a great place to visit and learn about early American history in the region. Just don't go looking for the group's Facebook page.
"You just can't find us. We're not there," Westmoreland County Historical Society Executive Director Lisa Hays said. "We're guessing it's the word militia."
"Some of our programs involve reenactors who portray the militias of the 1770s, 1780s. So we say the militia is going to be here to demonstrate and discuss living history," she added.
Hays said not long after the group posted that once such group would be part of an upcoming event, Facebook shut the page down.
"There was a glitch and we got kicked off. We tried to log back on and we could not log back on," Hays said.
The society said not only was its Facebook page deactivated, but several people who work for the society also had their Facebook pages deactivated.
"They lost personal information, personal pictures, personal correspondence," Hays said.
Hays said the group is not alone.
"During an internet search, we found that other Revolutionary War period sites were having the same problem," Hays told KDKA.
The Westmoreland County Historical Society said it has tried everything to get Facebook to listen, but so far no luck.
"I think they're misguided, misinformed. They don't know the proper historic use of the word militia," Hays said.
"There is no need to ban us from Facebook," she added. "We're not promoting anything violent or unAmerican."
KDKA's Ross Guidotti reached out to Facebook to find out if there was a way this could be rectified. KDKA is awaiting a response.
For more about the Westmoreland County Historical Society, click here.
