What did you just say? Facebook is cracking down on the use of obscene language. Unfortunately, that means discussing hoes in gardening groups.
Facebook censors flagged the word “hoe” in a New York gardening group after confusing the tool with the derogatory term for women.
Members of the Facebook group WNY Gardeners have repeatedly been flagged for “violating community standards” when all they were trying to do is discuss the long-handled bladed tool used for cultivating soil and removing weeds, duh.
When one member commented “Push pull hoe!” on a post about preferred weeding tools, they received a notification saying, “We reviewed this comment and found it goes against our standards for harassment and bullying“.
“So I contacted Facebook, which was useless,” said a group moderator, Elizabeth Licata, to The Associated Press (AP).
“You know, I said this is a gardening group, a hoe is a gardening tool.”
Licata said she never received a response from the company.
Still, a Facebook representative said to AP that some of the enforcements had been corrected.
An actual person will check supposedly offensive posts in the future before the group is sanctioned or deleted.
Other Facebook-deemed offensive phrases used in the group include, “Kill them all. Drown them in soapy water,” and “Japanese beetles are jerks“.
You’re such a gardening tool, hoe
— Yeetus Feetus Deleetus (@_SirCumFerence) July 18, 2021
Hardly surprising. It’s the same for homophobic comments too. Reported so many during Pride month and all allowed to remain. But use words like “hoe” in a gardening sense? That gets removed.
— PhilW (@philboze) July 13, 2021
The gardening group kerfuffle was not Facebook’s first hoe misinterpretation.
In January, residents of Plymouth Hoe, an area of the coastal city of Plymouth in England, we furious after Facebook repeatedly flagged posts that referenced the seaside attraction.
“These posts were removed in error and we apologize to those who were affected. We’re looking into what happened and will take steps to rectify the error,” said Facebook.
However, Facebook’s groups are also known for creating support networks for people in need, a noteworthy mention being the Karen support group launched in February.
Needless to say, I don’t think Facebook had the guts to flag anything in that one.
