Conservative group blasts LinkedIn for removing pro-ICE post, labeling it 'hateful'
A conservative advocacy group is slamming the social media platform LinkedIn and conservatives online are threatening to ditch the site after the group’s post supporting President Donald Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown was temporarily removed in what the company called an error.
".@DHSgov is carrying out the essential task of keeping our country safe," State Freedom Caucus Network posted on Jan. 27 on multiple platforms including X and LinkedIn.
"Biden let over 10M illegal aliens enter our states, many being violent criminals and pedophiles. Every state must ensure collaboration with ICE and CBP to remove them. Our caucuses are on the frontlines leading their states to support @POTUS’s mission to keep Americans safe!"
On Thursday, SFCN revealed a screenshot showing that while the post was allowed by X, it was flagged as "hateful speech" by LinkedIn and removed.
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"Apparently protecting children is ‘hate,’ but letting actual predators roam free is fine," SFCN wrote. "@elonmusk doesn’t censor us, but @LinkedIn does! We’ll be deleting our account as a result."
Conservatives on social media quickly began calling out the social media company, co-founded by liberal megadonor Reid Hoffman before he sold the company to Microsoft, where he currently sits on the board.
"Everyone delete LinkedIn," Townhall columnist Dustin Grage posted on X. "Just a garbage woke platform that provides little value."
"How is wanting pedos off the streets hateful?? ?? Why are you censoring Conservatives?? @LinkedIn," conservative influencer account LibsofTikTok posted on X. "DELETE YOUR LINKEDIN ACCOUNT."
A LinkedIn spokesperson pushed back, telling Fox News Digital: "This was removed in error, and we quickly corrected it."
Andrew Roth, president of the State Freedom Caucus Network, told Fox News Digital he received a "removal notice" via email and after the situation was posted on LibsofTikTok, he received another email saying the removal was an error.
"Initially, your post was removed for going against our policies," Roth was told by LinkedIn. "As part of our review, we now find that your post doesn’t go against our policies and apologize for the mistake."
Roth told Fox News Digital, "Yeah, right."
"I guess wokeism is still alive and well, but we will continue to fight it. First step is to not engage on the LinkedIn platform ever again. Second step is to tell the world what they did."
Conservatives have long decried censorship and perceived bias on social media platforms and although the post was reinstated within a few hours of being taken down, Daniel Cochrane, Heritage Foundation Senior Research Associate at the Center for Technology and the Human Person, told Fox News Digital the situation represents the "predictable model" that Big Tech platforms often operate under.
"Censor first and then ask for forgiveness later," Cochrane said.
"While platforms nearly always claim a ‘mistake’ or ‘miscommunication’ content moderation systems and processes operate in a black box," Cochrane added. "The opaque nature of these systems leads to a dearth of accountability."
Cochrane went on to say that even if platforms aren't "explicitly targeting" a specific group or message, "liberal biases" can often be "baked into their algorithmic moderation systems disproportionately flag and demote conservative voices."
"Without greater accountability, the status quo of arbitrary censorship is a feature of Big Tech platforms, not a bug."