A Swiss man who had his Facebook account blocked for trying to sell a satirical Hitler game has won his battle to have his profile reinstated.
The man named only as M.B in local media said: “Years of memories were lost as I tried to sell a satirical game.”
Secret Hitler is a social deduction game for 5-10 people about finding and stopping the right-wing politicians led by Hitler in their midst. Players are secretly divided into two teams: the liberals, who have a majority, and the fascists, who are hidden to everyone but each other.
But Facebook did not see it that way and blocked his account for going against Facebook policy in promoting far-right ideology.
The man said: “I am in no way associated with the right wing scene and just wanted to sell this funny game.”
After noticing his account had been blocked, he contacted Facebook who said: “The content you posted goes against Facebook regulations.”
Facebook added: “We are unable to give you any further information.”
Facebook initially said they were unable to reinstate the profile.
He said: “I felt powerless. I tried to make clear the background and apologised for the postings. I tried to get in contact via telephone but it was impossible as they do not have a hotline.
“I lost so many contacts, memories which went back for years and many photos which I hadn’t got anywhere else were lost.”
After the man’s desperate appeal appeared in local media including Swiss daily 20 Minuten, the man’s Facebook account was then reactivated.
A spokesman for Facebook told local media: “The account had mistakenly been blocked and has now been reactivated.”
They added: “We have apologised to the user for the mistake.”
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Story By: Kathryn Quinn, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
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