Are 'Friends' Outing Hunters on Facebook?

by
posted on February 22, 2016
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
facebook_hunters_reports_f.jpg

A couple weeks ago, Jeff W. (full name withheld on request) saw new friend requests on his Facebook page go through the roof. He added some friends, but deleted most of the requests because they appeared to be fake accounts. Apparently, he shouldn’t have taken any of these requests.

“I’ve been on Facebook for several years,” says Jeff W., a lifelong hunter who specializes in predators, “and I’ve never been reported to Facebook for my hunting photos. But after I got this slew of new friend requests? I’ve had six of my pics reported to Facebook for supposedly having ‘violent content.’ I’m just assuming some of these new ‘friends’ of mine are behind this. But I think it’s a pretty solid assumption.”

Greg Ray, the National Manager, Sales and Program Support for the NRA’s Hunter Services Program, is getting between four to 10 new friend requests daily. Most of these requesters have the same MO: new Facebook accounts; no mutual friends with Ray; and profile photos usually of an attractive young woman, often scantily dressed, or a guy holding a fish. His favorite? A request from a young blonde calling herself “Blerp Blarg” supposedly hailing from South Australia.

While Ray found “Blerp Blarg” somewhat humorous, he admits that the sheer volume of this onslaught has him wondering, “Why all these new requests? What’s their end game?”

Good question. My Facebook account contains a “friends list” just shy of the 5,000-friend limit imposed on individual accounts. My friends are almost all hunters and shooters. I’ve received only a handful of friend requests recently from obviously fake accounts. But dozens of people on my timeline keep complaining of a regular deluge of friend requests, the majority of them from new accounts with no mutual friends. And more of my friends than ever are being reported to the Facebook Powers That Be for their “violent” hunting pics.

Interestingly, this surge in friend requests/“offensive” photo reports started a few weeks ago, right after Facebook announced its policy of banning private sales of firearms. A whole lot of people’s Facebook pages with gun content simply disappeared. Meantime, a good number of my Facebook friends reported that hunting and shooting groups they belonged to were similarly deleted off the face of Facebook.

Facebook staff, though, has a problem in going after those users they deem unacceptable: Facebook’s own popularity. By the end of 2015, Facebook reported 1.6 billion active users each month. How to police such a vast number of social media users?

The New York Times (NYT) had the answer. In a Jan. 29, 2016, article regarding Facebook’s ban on private gun sales, The Times noted that, “Facebook said it would rely on its vast network of users to report any violations of the new [private gun sales] rules, and would remove any post that violated the policy. Beyond that, the company said it could ban users or severely limit the ways they post on Facebook, depending on the type and severity of past violations.”

It looks to me like there’s a move afoot by anti-hunters and anti-gunners to ID hunters and gun owners then report us to Facebook as violating various policies—violations we are not committing but which can result in us being banned from Facebook nonetheless.

What do those of you with Facebook accounts think? Is there some sort of social media jihad being waged against us hunters and shooters and Second Amendment advocates? Let us know.

Latest

Lead Photo 02
Lead Photo 02

Head to Head: 7x57mm Mauser vs. .30-06 Springfield

I’ve had more than a few requests for this Head to Head, so I figured it was high time to pit two of the early 20th century’s most popular military cartridges against one another. Let's dive into the 7x57mm Mauser vs. the .30-06 Springfield.

NRA Hunter Education FREE Online Course Now Available in Louisiana

The National Rifle Association of America’s award-winning free Hunter Education online course is now available in the State of Louisiana, the latest addition as NRA works to make the course available to hunters in all 50 states.

Moultrie Updates Line of Game Feeders

Moultrie has expanded the capacity of its line of feeders, and bettered the cameras' integration with the company's connected technology to streamline the feeding process.

Building the Ultimate Elk Bow

Elk are remarkable creatures that dwell in some of the most hellish landscapes on earth. An elk bow needs to be tough, light, and ultra-accurate. Here's how to build the right one for you.

First Look: Spandau S2 20-Gauge

Spandau Arms, a brand of SDS Arms, has announced that the  Spandau S2 Shotgun is now available in a 20-gauge model in both a Mossy Oak Bottomland and a traditional wood finish.

Count Some Quail, Tally Some Turkeys

The Arkansas turkey season ended in May, but there’s still good reason for hunters and outdoor enthusiasts to keep the birds in mind when they head out to their favorite hiking trail or drive the backroads of The Natural State. Outdoorsmen who scare up coveys of quail are welcome in the survey as well.

Interests



Get the best of American Hunter delivered to your inbox.