In recent weeks, several of the Labor Party’s local teams have been banned from their Facebook pages. Last in line is Indre Østfold Labor Party. Late on Tuesday evening they lost access to their site. – I would like to know what happened. We were told that the page had been depublished and we as administrators did not have access, says Kathrine Hestø Hansen. Indre Østfold Labor Party has adopted Kathrine Hestø Hansen’s deputy mayor page while they wait to get the local team page up again. Photo: Annika Byrde/NTB She is deputy mayor and first candidate for Ap. Many parties use Facebook as an important channel to reach voters. – We have set up a digital publication plan in the run-up to the election, and we have many followers who now do not have access to that information, says Hansen. Unknown reason Hansen finds it striking that several people have been banned right now. She believes it may be related to increased activity on the pages in the election campaign. – I am not aware that we have broken any guidelines, nor have we used Facebook for advertisements. Earlier in August, several of Aps’ local teams in Vestfold and Telemark had their pages shut down. Then county leader Truls Vasvik described the situation as serious. County leader in Vestfold and Telemark Labor Party Truls Vasvik. Photo: Lars Tore Endresen / news – If this is done deliberately, it stifles our freedom of expression, the county manager told news. The county secretary of the Østfold Labor Party, Desiré Helén Craggs, says that they are now working hard to get the pages up in Indre Østfold. Skiptvet’s local team is also affected. In the past, the pages of the Labor Party in Moss, Marker and Sarpsborg have also been down. – We do not know the reason. We get general phrases from Meta, but no direct cause. Rather, we know what the cause is now. – There are 19 days left in the election campaign. We therefore hope that the pages will soon be up and running again, she says. Facebook is owned by the company Meta. news has sent them an inquiry about the case. It has not yet been answered. Electoral researcher: – Weakens freedom of expression – In the worst case, this could have an impact on the potential support of some of the party teams that have been kicked out of Facebook, says electoral researcher at Østfold University College Harald Borgebund. In recent elections, political activity on social media has gained increased importance. Harald Borgebund is an election researcher at Østfold University College. Photo: Bengt-Eigil Ruud/news – When parties disappear, apparently for no good reason, it helps to weaken the freedom of expression of these party groups, says Borgebund. He also points out that voters may become skeptical if local teams disappear from Facebook. – Some may think that there are internal conflicts or something else behind when they cannot find the local teams on Facebook. – An attack on democracy Although the Labor Party seems to have been hit the hardest, other parties’ Facebook pages have also gone black. Certain local teams in MDG report the same problem. On Saturday, Ben Tollefsen in Hvaler Senterparti became aware that their Facebook page was down. He thinks the timing is suspicious. – Why exactly at this time, when there are only two weeks left until the election? If it is an intentional situation, then this is quite bad. In that case, it is an attack on democracy, says Tollefsen to news.
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A number of local Labor pages banned from Facebook – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
