Talking about hoes can get NJ gardeners in trouble on Facebook (Opinion)

It’s no secret that President Biden has reached out to Facebook and Google and Twitter the other tech giants to start looking closely into what people are posting on their personal social media accounts. They want to make sure that they are taking down any opinions that differ from their own.

Censorship, as you probably know, is rampant all over social media. But if you thought the Facebook police were all over you for just vaccine or COVID talk, or political talk, you wouldn’t believe how they’re watching you if you talk gardening. And it really is a sign of how scary Facebook censors are.

A gardening group in western New York noticed that there were people watching their activity when the word “hoe” came up in a discussion.

The group gets flagged repeatedly for violating community standards when using the word, according to the New York Post.

It makes you really think about exactly who is watching your Facebook activity. How bright is a person flagging you for the word “hoe” when they don’t even realize that a hoe is a gardening implement? And even though it might be considered a denigrating term for women, don’t most adults know that it has another definition too? What are they, twelve?

According to the NY Post, someone posted the term “push pull hoe,” which apparently is a weeding tool, and Facebook flagged it with a stern warning that said, “We reviewed this comment and found it goes against our standards for harassment and bullying.”

And it’s not the first time.

New Jersey is the Garden State. Which means there is no telling how many Facebook groups we have that are dedicated to gardening in this state. Which also means that there’s no telling how many times the word “hoe” is used and whether or not it has been flagged yet. But watch out, New Jersey Gardeners. The overzealous Facebook mods are watching. And they are poor spellers.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco. Any opinions expressed are Judi Franco’s own.