Before getting started, I would like to note that Kerul Kassel is an elected
public official in Harmony (ie. a Harmony CDD Supervisor). She also happens
to be a Nextdoor "Lead" (since Kerul helped to get the Nextdoor Harmony
group started here, which she deserves credit for). In other words, Kerul
Kassel is now in a position to control the flow of information in Harmony.
Last year I detailed how an innocuous post about gun laws and mass shootings
(see "Deer Hunting",
https://tinyurl.com/y75hllbt ) was removed from
Nextdoor by Kerul (see "Censorship in Harmony",
https://tinyurl.com/y7xnbvw3 ).
Bear in mind, what was removed from Nextdoor at that time by Kerul was not
the actual text of the "Deer Hunting" post, it was merely a pointer to the
full text. Here's what was actually posted and subsequently removed from
Nextdoor (in its entirety):
Deer Hunting
https://tinyurl.com/y75hllbt
Here are many more posts since 2006:
http://HarmonyFLcommons.com/News
Always remember, there is more than one side to every story.
So there was nothing to read about "Deer Hunting" unless you took the
initiative to click the link. This is true of most of my posts.
That was then.
Since then I've learned how to report such an action (ie. the removal of a
post that falls within Nextdoor guidelines) as an abuse of authority to the
Nextdoor support team.
Now we have an even more serious example of censorship, one that an
independent 3rd party (Nextdoor support) agrees should not have occurred
(ie. Kerul Kassel reporting a post for removal that falls within Nextdoor
guidelines).
Similar to how many others have posted ads on Nextdoor about various things
in our neighborhood, I recently I posted an ad about the Harmony Google
Newsgroup. My primary objective was to make others aware of future political
articles about the upcoming CDD election in Harmony.
Here's what I posted on Nextdoor a few weeks ago titled "Harmony History"
(in its entirety):
Harmony Florida Commons Newsgroup
https://HarmonyFLcommons.com/News
Unfiltered, Unblocked, Undeleted
Join and get emails about potentially touchy subjects
of importance to Harmony residents.
Easily unsubscribe anytime. It's a Google service, so
security and privacy are paramount.
Are you knowledgeable about what's been happening in
Harmony since 2006?
From Original Developer Promises
to Harmony's Charter School
to Harmony's Fire Station
to Bad Water in Harmony
to Corrupt Osceola School Board
to Pink Slime in School Lunches
to Developer Vandalism of Wikipedia
to Gigantic Gas Pipelines in Harmony
to CDD and HROA Elections
Join and stay informed, especially about upcoming
elections.
Feel free to pass along this invitation to anyone
interested.
Without advance warning or explanation (unlike the previous post removal),
Kerul Kassel had my "Harmony History" post unceremoniously removed.
When I asked for an explanation after-the-fact Kerul replied:
...
I reported your post to Nextdoor as being motivated by
gripes with the developer, the CDD, the HROA, and with
people who didn't agree with your gripes, whom you
characterized as being in the developer's pocket.
...
When I wrote years ago about "Pink Slime" in our children's school lunches,
the Osceola School Board responded by actually doing something about it (ie.
"Pink Slime" is no longer being served to our children). When I spoke to
Kerul about this specific issue when we met in person a year or so ago she
didn't understand how the "Pink Slime" topic had any value to Harmony
residents. She told me she would not have allowed such information to be
posted on Nextdoor. I was taken aback by such an attitude. I think any
parent would feel the same way. Yet Kerul proved her point by having even a
hint of this issue (among others) quickly removed from Nextdoor.
Was the removal of my "Harmony History" post an example of fair and
impartial group moderation? Or am I right in considering what Kerul Kassel
did as an act of censorship?
As I alluded to earlier, I figured out how to report Kerul to the Nextdoor
authorities. Here's the response I received back from "Gary" at Nextdoor
Support <
he...@nextdoor.com>:
...
I've reviewed your post titled "Harmony History" and
found that it wasn't a violation of our Guidelines.
I've gone ahead and restored your post. When a post is
reported, Leads vote to remove the content if they
believe it's in violation of our Guidelines. If you
notice that your content is wrongly being removed,
please reach out to us and we'll review and take action
if appropriate.
...
Bottom line: Nextdoor itself agrees that the "Harmony History" post should
not have been removed. And Kerul Kassel's act of reporting such posts (mine
or anyone else's) results in their automatic removal (apparently without
review).
In my opinion that is censorship, plain and simple.
I will repeat what I wrote on this topic last year (again, see "Censorship
in Harmony",
https://tinyurl.com/y7xnbvw3 ):
Does Kerul Kassel really believe she knows better?
Does she think Harmony residents need her help not to
see potentially contentious material?
Does Kerul really believe she is adult enough to handle
such material but other Harmony residents are not?
Censorship is a slippery slope folks. No one should
engage in such activity, especially not someone elected
to a public board and responsible for the integrity of
public information.