Facebook and Youtube are censoring the name of alleged Ukraine "whistle blower".

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Breitbart/Getty.

Facebook and Youtube are censoring the name of the alleged Ukraine "whistle blower" despite his name being public knowledge for days now. Breitbart. Eric Ciaramella's name has been public for days now with multiple news outlets, including Breitbart, Heavy.com, Washington Examiner and The Federalist, naming him. Ciaramella's name has also been released during the testimony of Bill Taylor and during the Mueller report. As someone who served in the National Security council, his name was public for a long time. Facebook released the following statement about the issue:

"Any mention of the potential whistleblower’s name violates our coordinating harm policy, which prohibits content “outing of witness, informant, or activist.” We are removing any and all mentions of the potential whistleblower’s name and will revisit this decision should their name be widely published in the media or used by public figures in debate."

Youtube is also censoring mentions of Ciaramella's name. It is unclear if only his name will be censored or if entire videos will be removed. 

My Comment:

I can personally confirm that posting Ciaramella's name on facebook will result in your post being deleted. I posted something earlier today on my personal account saying that I doubted the news was real, but about an hour later the post was removed without notification. This is despite the fact that my post was only about the censorship and was not calling for any kind of consequences at all. 

Of course, Google, who owns Youtube, is censoring his name as well. Since Google owns blogspot, I am not sure if this post will even be posted, or allowed to stay up. Twitter is the only major platform that I have used that isn't censoring this name. It, along with Gab and MeWe are probably going to be the only places I will be able to share this post, assuming it doesn't get deleted. 

This is clearly disgusting. Ciaramella is a public figure and was that even before he got outed as the probable leaker. His name and face has been out there since the inauguration at least as he was in the famous picture where Obama's aides and workers looked upset that Trump was taking over. The idea that his identity is something that has to be protected is Orwellian and just stupid. 

Furthermore, think of all the times when Facebook didn't censor anyone's name. Nick Sandmann comes to mind as he was threatened and attacked for doing nothing but standing there. He wasn't a public figure at all and people were certainly using his name for coordinated harm. But Sandmann's name was everywhere while Ciaramella, who is a partisan at best and a traitor at worst, gets a free pass. 

This goes beyond censorship, it's trying to actively interfere with American politics. Both the 2020 election and impeachment effort would be greatly harmed if Ciaramella's actions and beliefs become widely known. With his name censored on two of the biggest internet platforms nobody can easily look into his background and evaluate his credibility. 

I've been avoiding writing about the impeachment debacle as I think the whole thing is a joke. But the fact that the tech companies are tipping the scales here makes me wonder if they won't actually pull it off. If President Trump is removed because of the baseless charges against him then I can't see how we avoid a civil war. And if that happens the tech companies will be partially responsible.