When I first heard about Facebook and signed up in 2007, the invite was sent via an email. This was how Facebook became what it is today. Stealing email addresses and bombarding the world with unsolicited Facebook Invites via email. More reputable companies don’t violate these types of rules.
Early in 2019, I noticed something peculiar in a Google Search of my name. This mans’ face was at the top of Google Search results under my name, David Gizzarelli. This photo is not me, not my face, and this man has no resemblance to me whatsoever.
I first thought this was an issue with Google and filled out many forms trying to get this photo removed. Upon further investigation (I had to dig really deep to understand why this photo was at the top of Google search results), I learned that this photo was originating from a Facebook server.
Though the photo was on Google and from a Facebook server, the Facebook URL was being masked and viewers (mostly myself) were being led to believe that the URL was not from a Facebook server, but it was.
The photo ultimately was linked to my own Facebook page that was appropriately titled David Gizzarelli. But when I scrolled down the page, I wasn’t able to find any reference to the photo in question above. This mans’ photo was nowhere on my Facebook account, no where in my photo albums, and was in no way associated with any of my acting work, photo shoots, or employment.
So, why was this photo at the top of Google search results under my name David Gizzarelli and linking back to Facebook with a masked URL?
It was particularly concerning because for one, this is not a photo of me. Also, this man does not look like me. Furthermore, the man in the Facebook photo tagged with my name David Gizzarelli looks considerably older than me. I have all my hair.
Well, the unfortunate reality and the harsh truth to this matter is that I will never know how this photo came to be at the top of Google search results and on Facebook because I cannot contact Facebook. I can’t call anyone at Facebook, I can’t email anyone at Facebook, I can’t fill out a form on Facebook. All I can do is give “Feedback” … and there is that small disclaimer in the form that says something to the effect “we can’t respond to all messages … ” blah blah blah blah.
I spent months investigating this blunder and trying to get this photo removed. Google didn’t have any answers and Facebook doesn’t like to be held accountable for anything. But apparently, somehow, the photo was eventually removed or I simply don’t see it anymore under my name.
I went to great lengths trying to get this photo removed and to keep it from referencing my name David Gizzarelli. When I found out that the “masked” URL was eventually pointing back to Facebook and my Facebook Page “David Gizzarelli”, I went and deleted my page hoping that would do the trick.
Well, guess what? Even though it’s many months later and I don’t see the mans’ photo at the top of Google search results, and even though I have deleted my Facebook Page titled “David Gizzarelli” … the page URL is still on Google.
My Facebook Page “David Gizzarelli” has been deleted yet the URL is still there with it’s own sub-domain https://b-m.facebook.com/gizzarellid/. There is still an image (my image) there on Google at the top of Google Search, but the page isn’t there. I don’t understand what the sub-domain “b-m” is for. I guess we are supposed to think it’s an alphabetical listing.
So, why is the image still there several months after the page was deleted pointing to a URL that was deleted? Certainly, it’s not lost in a Google cached several months later?
Well, I don’t know. And I will never know. I even Tweeted to Facebook, Google, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Justice Department … no one cares or will respond. And why should they? After all, who the hell am I, some small time actor and musician earning a modest living. I’m not a politician, a celebrity, or a CEO.
In conclusion, since Facebook doesn’t answer questions, I have no other explanation about all this but to say that …
THE PHOTO WAS PLACED THERE BY FACEBOOK ON PURPOSE.
I’ve had many, many more odd and strange occurrences happen to me while using Facebook. I’ve been banned several times on Facebook. One time, I was banned for 90 days during a legal case that I was fighting in Federal Court. I used Facebook during this time to receive donations for legal fees. Facebook cut my supporters off several times, banning me for a week, banning me for a month, banning me for three months.
And there is never any clear indication of what I did, how I could remedy the situation, or who at Facebook was doing this to me. And yet, I never hear of any other stories from people who are experiencing the same type of suppression, harassment, and bullying by a corporate entity.
I mean, yes, people besides me get banned on Facebook, but to my knowledge, these other people know why they are banned. They know that they do the types of things or they know they are the type of person that should get banned. But every time I get banned from using my Facebook account, I am quite surprised! The bans generally pop up at time when I don’t expect it. I start thinking back “what did I do, what happened, what the fuck?”.
While I am a little harsh at times, especially when it comes to politics, I don’t ever agree with the bans. Facebook is an American company bound by all the State and Federal laws just like any other citizen or company, but they don’t follow the law. They don’t respect American laws, values, morals, or the United States Constitution which guarantees my right to free speech, freedom of expression, and the right to have a voice.
Though Mark Zuckerberg and the CEO of Facebook claims that Facebook gives people a voice and the freedom to express themselves, this American Citizen and Facebook user since 2007 hasn’t been given this voice and hasn’t been able to express himself.
Don’t bother contacting any attorneys or seeking legal representation to try and sue Facebook. One lawyer I spoke to threatened me with physical violence when I started to assert my rights as a citizen of the United States, my guaranteed rights under the US Constitution.
The fact that I was banned on my birthday and I don’t know why pretty much sums up the whole “Facebook Experience” …
It’s just a website that hates American values and that wants to destroy America and what it stands for.
Freedom.