Facebook Blocks Filmmaker Fundraiser.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Documentary on New York artist Vincent Castiglia deemed “malicious” and “unsafe”.
CHICAGO, IL – February 26, 2015
(Waterfront Productions) – For the first time in social media history, Facebook has blocked all posts relating to a Kickstarter fundraising campaign. Award winning filmmaker John Borowski awoke on the morning of February 26, 2015 to discover that all posts containing links related to his new Kickstarter fundraising project were removed and blocked from every post and share on Facebook.
The documentary film project, Bloodlines: The Life and Art of Vincent Castiglia, focuses on the life of contemporary American artist Vincent Castiglia, who paints in his own blood and also the blood of his collectors. Comedian Margaret Cho was Vincent’s recent subject, having her blood drawn and her portrait painted by Vincent in her own blood.
“I take the blocking of this project very personally. This action by Facebook is truly a slap in the face to ALL artists who have content on Facebook and who are struggling to survive in America. Not only is it a disgrace, but Facebook is also causing our fundraiser to potentially lose thousands of dollars by the day. I have posted many times about my documentary films on serial killers and have NEVER been blocked on Facebook until this project. Artists rely on Facebook to help them spread the news about their projects. When Facebook turns on their very own, it looks very bad for Facebook.” stated Borowski.
Borowski has sent messages and emails to Facebook and even Kickstarter in hopes to resolve the issue by having the link reinstated and unblocked.
“This is one of the big issues of social media. If just one person is offended by anything in a post, it is flagged and removed automatically. We live in a world controlled by bots and binary codes. Facebook does not have a working phone number or other way to contact them directly, which is scary. I feel as though I am in Orwell’s 1984 or Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.” said Borowski.
Borowski has yet to hear back from Facebook regarding this issue and has resolved to fight it until it is unblocked and also would like an explanation of how a documentary on a contemporary American artist can be deemed “malicious” and “unsafe” by Facebook.
Contact: John Borowski, Producer/filmmaker
Visit the official Kickstarter here.
UPDATE 2/26/15 6:30pm: So the Kickstarter link is now working. I learned to fight from the best, Hart Fisher and Tony Jay. When I would have lunches with Tony he would say, John you have to fight. Hart is the ultimate example of that having won numerous cases including beating Marvel comics.
