Last Updated on January 13, 2025
After Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg went on a media tour last week, apparently reversing his position on political censorship, #WalkAway founder Brandon Straka took to X to demand the reinstatement of the Facebook page for his massive movement.
“Zuckerberg needs to reinstate the original #WalkAway Campaign group, and the personal and business accounts of #WalkAway’s admins- all of which were permanently banned with no explanation or opportunity for appeal,” he said on X over the weekend.
In late November, when Zuckerberg first began expressing his desire to stop censoring his users, which he claims he implemented only to appease high-level Democrats, including members of outgoing President Joe Biden’s 2020 and 2024 campaign teams, Straka demanded the same.
“Facebook banned the #WalkAway Campaign group (over 511K members) and all of the thousands of stories of the people who joined and bravely shared why they were walking away- with no justification, no explanation, and no path for appeal,” Straka said at the time. “They also permanently banned the accounts of every person who was an admin of our group- which destroyed people’s personal businesses and deleted all of their cherished memories that were stored on the platform. There’s been no apology, no acknowledgment, and no attempt to make this right. It’s not enough for Zuckerberg to want to join us. He has an obligation to make amends by thoroughly changing his platform and reinstating wrongfully banned accounts.”
Straka was politically persecuted by the federal government for his attendance at the mostly-peaceful January 6, 2021 protest at the Capitol.
He was indicted on trumped up charges of Impeding law enforcement officer during civil disorder; knowingly entering and remaining on restricted grounds without lawful authority and/or engaging in disorderly conduct within proximity to a restricted building to impede official functions; and engaging in disorderly conduct with intent to disturb a hearing before Congress, which essentially amounted to “egging on” other protestors.
He pleaded guilty to the last charge in September of 2021 and received a three month home confinement sentence, along with three years of probation.
