Jan. 9 update: Cyclists overrun anti-bicycling hate page
Jan. 8 update: Facebook page launched to counteract hate page (see below)
As a former newspaperman I take dim view of censorship, but this Facebook page has no redeeming value and espouses violence against bike riders.
This Australia-based Facebook page — “There's a perfectly good path right next to the road you stupid cyclist” — is a platform for rants and threats against people riding bicycles.
It may have started innocently enough by someone who had to slow down one day to share a narrow stretch of road with a bicyclist, but it has devolved into hate-mongering and harassment of cyclists fulfilling their rights to the road.
The statements do more damage than reflect poorly on the authors. They turn cyclists into objects who may be considered rightful targets by some drunken, drug-addled driver whose grip on sanity is looser than his grasp on the steering wheel.
I've reported the page to the taste police at Facebook as it violates at least two of the social network's Terms and Conditions:
- You will not bully, intimidate, or harass any user.
- You will not post content that is hateful, threatening, pornographic, or that contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence.
My message
There's a “report a page” link in the bottom left hand corner of the page. I wrote:
“This Facebook page espouses violence against bicyclists. Most of the discussion involves threats by motorists about doing bodily injury to anyone riding a bicycle in the street, where it is completely legal for bicyclists to ride. As such it determines to bully, intimidate and harass a group of people. It is hateful and threatening to bike riders. As someone who frequently rides a bike in the street, where it is legal, I find this completely abhorrent and urge you to take it down.”
I first saw a story about this Facebook page at the “Roger Kramer Cycling” blog. He urges bicyclists to report the page to Facebook and I certainly concur.
Updates:
Jan. 9, 2010
Nobody invited them to the hate party, but cyclists have overrun the anti-bike Facebook page. It's hilarious; 99% of recent comments are now pro-bike and share the road. Many of the posted phots are “share the road” signs and idyllic bicycling scenes.
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
Jan. 8, 2010
Streetsblog San Francisco talked to a Facebook rep who said the site had been reviewed and determined not to violate its policies that ban “hate speech and/or actionable threats of violence.”
Bike Portland blog attacks the website: “Anti-bike group of Facebook needs to go.”
Confessions of a bike junkie blog writes: “Facebook has gone too far.”
PezCyclingNews urged readers to report the page to Facebook, even though the racing site doesn't often delve into bike advocacy issues.
Meanwhile, a new Facebook page has been launched to counteract the anti-cyclist page. It's gratifying to see that the page — “Help remove this hate group against cyclists” — has gained more than 13,000 members in two days. If you're already a Facebook member, it's easy to become a fan of that website.
Related to all this hate aimed at bike riders is the story of Christopher Thompson of Los Angeles, sentenced to five years in prison by a judge for slamming on his brakes on in front of cyclists and causing injuries.
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