New Brunswick MP questions motives for Facebook suspension
Mike Dawson’s account was suspended and restored, twice, after he posted a speech about electric vehicles
A New Brunswick Conservative MP says he's not satisfied with Facebook's lack of explanation for why his account was suspended twice in seven days.
Mike Dawson's account was suspended after he posted a speech he gave in the House of Commons on June 17 denouncing a federal Liberal plan to phase out the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2035.
"I feel they're trying to censor what I said," Dawson said.
"I've never had an issue before so I don't understand what the issue would be this time, unless they didn't like the speech and they want to stop it from being out there."
The account was later restored, then suspended again, then restored again.
The only explanation the site gave Dawson was that he had violated "community standards," he said.
A spokesperson for Meta, the company that owns Facebook, would not discuss the reasons for Dawson's suspension, citing "user privacy reasons."
In an emailed statement, the company would only say that Dawson's account "was removed in error and has been restored."
Dawson told CBC News he wasn't satisfied with that explanation.
The rookie MP spoke last Tuesday during a debate on a supply motion in the House of Commons for the 2025-26 fiscal year, using his time to slam Ottawa's electric-vehicle policy.
Regulations give automakers until 2035 to gradually phase out combustion engine cars, trucks and SUVs with a requirement to gradually increase the proportion of electric models they offer for sale each year.
The figure must reach 20 per cent next year and continue growing until it hits 100 per cent a decade from now.
"Once this government takes away your right to choose what you drive, they won't stop there," Dawson said in his speech.
"Today it's gas vehicles. Tomorrow it's your furnace, your wood stove and maybe even your barbecue."
The seven-minute speech included plenty of pithy lines but nothing resembling hateful content or violent rhetoric.
Dawson said the EV policy was "the kind of thing you dream up after a latte at a downtown Toronto espresso bar, not after a hard winter on the Renous-Plaster Rock highway."
He tried to post the speech the same night, but Facebook removed it.
He tried two more times, with the same result. After the third attempt, his account was suspended.
He clicked a button to appeal the decision and uploaded images of his identification. The account was restored last Friday, so he posted the video again, only to experience a second suspension the next day.
The account was restored again on Sunday and the speech is there on Dawson's timeline.
Dawson said in an interview that anything that actually violated Facebook's rules would probably have also earned him a quick rebuke from the Speaker of the House of Commons.
"The Speaker never batted an eye at the speech when it was happening."
Dawson is a former provincial MLA who was first elected federally in the election on April 28.
He said he uses Facebook to monitor and promote community events and to stay in touch with constituents.
"I've put more controversial stuff on Facebook before than that, and never got flagged," he said.
He also pointed out that news coverage of his suspension won't be postable on the social site, either.
Facebook doesn't allow the posting of news articles in Canada as a result of a dispute with the previous Trudeau Liberal government over the Online News Act, which requires large internet platforms to pay for news content on their websites.
Rather than pay, Facebook opted to not allow news articles on its platform.
"That's a problem," Dawson said.
"News should be out there for people to share."
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