Kirk Cameron’s ‘Unstoppable’ Ban Explained By Facebook

Kirk Cameron’s Unstoppable movie was banned from Facebook this week and then reinstated a short time later. While Cameron has shouted his “victory” from the hilltops, Facebook has responded with its own reason for reinstatement.

Facebook spokesman Michael Kirkland spoke with Social News Daily and explained how the social network’s automated anti-spam system forced Unstoppable out of the system.

According to Kirkland, the URL used to share the movie had been previously reported as spam, possibly by the website’s previous owner. Indeed, many users did report that the site had been blocked by McAfee site advisor.

Kirk Cameron’s movie Unstoppable was banned from Facebook this week. Well, sort of. Links to the movie were briefly blocked from the social networking site, but it didn’t have anything to do with religious bigotry. According to Facebook, the movie accidentally slipped into one of its spam filters.

Kirkland notes that, after Kirk Cameron’s Unstoppable was banned, they received his request for reinstatement and acted almost immediately.

Kirkland further explains Facebook’s automated spam system:

“To protect the hundreds of millions of people who connect and share on Facebook every day, we have automated systems that work in the background to maintain a trusted environment and protect our users from bad actors who often use links to spread spam and malware. These systems are so effective that most people who use Facebook will never encounter spam. They’re not perfect, though, and in rare instances they make mistakes. This link was blocked for a very short period of time after being misidentified as a potential spam or malware site. We learn from rare cases such as these to make our systems even better.”

So was there some type of religious persecution on behalf of Facebook? Probably not. But the entire Kirk Cameron Unstoppable ban does highlight the problems that can be associated with automated systems.

Cameron, in the meantime, continues to act as if he won the Crusades, writing on his Facebook page:

“Victory!! Friends, you did it! People tried to stop “Unstoppable” on Facebook, and because millions of us joined together as one voice, Facebook has apologized and welcomed us back! You all just demonstrated to the press (they are all calling me to talk about your amazing response!) that the communities of faith, hope, and love are, well… unstoppable.”

Sorry, Kirk,but your own stupidity in buying a banned domain banned your video, Facebook acted in kind. End of story.