posted this horrific photo and added:
My Way, Get the F%&* Out of It.
A group on Facebook with 32,000 members that is encouraging dangerous behavior and fomenting hate toward people on bicycles violates Facebook’s terms of use and should be shut down.
Among other things, the group named There’s a perfectly good path right next to the road you stupid cyclist!, has posted photos of cars plowing into a group of people racing bikes with words, My Way, Get the F%&* Out of It. Here’s a snip from their group description: “My car is hard, and i am not slowing down!”
We have received a lot of emails about this from concerned people in the last few days. Some people have decided to join the group just to post pro-bike photos and messages. Others have started a new Facebook group called, HELP REMOVE this HATE GROUP against cyclists!. It currently has over 9,400 members.
Portlander Dan Powell, co-found and owner of Portland Design Works, tells us that the response group added over 9,000 members in under 24 hours. Powell also thinks the offensive group should go. “I think Facebook has been slow to react. This is the age of the internet, that page should have come down in an afternoon.”
After reading about the “stupid cyclist!” group in the popular RoadBikeRider newsletter, Vancouver Bicycle Club member Bill Byer wrote to Facebook to point out that he feels the group violates their Terms of Use.
In the “Safety” section, the Facebook Terms of Use state:
6. You will not bully, intimidate, or harass any user.
7. You will not post content that is hateful, threatening, pornographic, or that contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence.
I agree with Mr. Byer. This group is in clear violation of those terms and should be removed by Facebook immediately. As I have made clear on several past occasions, encouraging violence on other road users is no joke. Given the already divisive bike/car culture clash in America and the relative vulnerability of people using our roads without the protection of 3,000 lbs of steel to protect them from harm, this type of thing should not be tolerated.
Free speech is one thing, but making it seem like a joke to run people over is not O.K. I hope that Facebook takes these concerns seriously (hopefully there’s a regular bike rider among their staff) and decides to take action immediately.
UPDATE:
1/8, 2:28pm: Streetsblog SF picked up on this story and has published a response from Facebook. The company says “We’ve reviewed this group and determined that it doesn’t violate our policies.” I disagree, but am not surprised by their initial review. Hopefully they take a second look.