In the Santee M.O.M.S. Facebook group, a post discussing a controversial personnel change at Rio Seco was deleted. The reasoning? Group admin stated that “we need to make sure what is being shared is factual” — citing the group’s concern over slander and misinformation.
Let’s unpack that.
In any free society, and certainly in any open forum; the line between protecting against falsehoods and silencing uncomfortable truths is razor-thin. While it is reasonable to avoid obvious defamation, it is not reasonable to suppress personal stories, lived experiences, or community concerns simply because they challenge a preferred narrative.
This isn’t about whether every claim made is verifiable in a court of law. This is about who gets to decide what is allowed to be said in a community. Since when did Facebook group admins become judge, jury, and arbiter of fact?
A parent shared her own experience, not speculation, not rumor, but what she personally witnessed…and her comment was deleted. Why? Because it contradicted a narrative someone else preferred? Because it suggested that something more might be going on?
This is the exact culture that silences victims of abuse.
This is the mindset that questions survivors of sexual assault because “he seemed like a nice guy.”
This is the logic that demands women prove their bruises to be believed.
Silencing dissent does not protect the community: it protects those in power.
If something might be defamatory, that does not make it automatically false. “Uncomfortable” is not the same as “untrue.” When we suppress dialogue out of fear, or because it goes against the grain, we rob the public of the ability to form their own opinions.
Nobody elected Facebook group moderators to decide the absolute truth.
Nobody gave them the moral authority to invalidate someone’s story.
And nobody should accept a world where only sanitized, comfortable, and palatable information gets to see the light of day.
If you believe in open dialogue, in transparency, and in protecting truth, even when it’s difficult: then it’s time to speak up. Loudly.
Because the people being silenced today might be the ones who needed to be heard the most.
East of 52 does not allege any wrongdoing but highlights the importance of transparency and open dialogue in community forums, as well as reading what the embodiment of the First Amendment is.