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Facebook's decision to unpublish "Rise Up Ocean County," comes about 10 months after Rachel Wainer Apter, director of the state's Division on Civil Rights, sent the social media giant a letter expressing concerns about racist and anti-Semitic statements on the page.
The Facebook page, and its 19,000 likes, went silent on Wednesday morning.
Rise Up Ocean County administrators posted Facebook's notification on a separate website: "Your page has been unpublished for using hate speech, which goes against the Facebook Community Standards."
They also said they are appealing what they consider an "arbitrary and capricious" decision, noting that the page came under “heavy scrutiny" by Facebook only after state officials complained
“We have in fact exercised great caution in OUR posts and OUR comments to insure that at all times we complied with Facebook community standards,” the appeal states. “The platform is too valuable to our efforts to risk losing it.”
The group also noted that it polices comments that they deem “inappropriate.”
Whether this time is for real remains to be seen.
Last month, the page disappeared for nearly 24 hours. No sooner had Murphy and Grewal praised the move than administrators restored it -- saying they'd briefly taken it down to avoid a potential hacker.
In a joint statement Wednesday, Murphy and Grewal said that they "appreciate that Facebook has now decided that this kind of hateful rhetoric has no place on its platform."
"The Murphy Administration will continue to call out hate whenever and wherever we see it, we will persist in demanding meaningful reforms to address the proliferation of hate online, and we will continue working to make New Jersey a safe and inclusive place for all of our residents," they added.
"Rise Up Ocean County” has been aligned with “Jackson NJ Strong,” which the Attorney General also is monitoring for possible action.
Rise Up Ocean County, in recent court filings, also is alleged to be loosely affiliated with the Jackson Township Republican Club, which has faced criticism of its own -- including three discrimination lawsuits.
“There remains much that should be done to stop the spread of hate on the Internet," the state officials' statement read.
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