BRUNSWICK COUNTY — A Brunswick County Commissioner who is no stranger to controversy has again upset some constituents online. But this time, he apparently violated Facebook’s community standards with a joke, with the company denying his appeal to reinstate the post. The Commissioner’s supporters stand by his joke, with many seeing the pushback as being overly sensitive.
Wednesday, Commissioner Mike Forte posted a joke to his re-election campaign page, as he does on a nearly daily basis. Forte frequently posts memes, county updates, events, and jokes from this political page. His supporters laud his candidness and sense of humor, but when Forte’s jokes steer near controversy, some say he crosses a line.
Facebook removed Commissioner Mike Forte’s Wednesday post, informing him it violated community standards and constituted “hate speech.” In a follow-up Facebook post Thursday morning, Forte said he didn’t want anyone to think he had conceded to concerned commenters because the post was down.
In the follow-up post, Forte described his critics as “trolls,” stating the joke only offended the handful of people who regularly “attack” him.
By midday Thursday, Forte said he received a notification from Facebook that the company had reviewed and denied his appeal of the post’s removal. The company informed the Commissioner his Wednesday post was not in line with its community standards.
“It’s their product. They can do what they want,” Forte said of Facebook’s decision — the first time he said any post of his had been officially removed.
Asked whether the removal would change his online postings, he said, “Nah. I’m going to be me.” Forte said. “There’s no way I thought it was going to be hate speech.”
‘Hate speech’?
Forte’s joke Wednesday was met with both support and criticism. View a screenshot of the since-removed post below, originally shared Wednesday morning:
Some commenters told Forte the joke was misogynistic and unbecoming of an elected official. Others criticized the concerns, telling the commenters to “lighten up.”
According to Facebook’s community standards, the company defines “hate speech” as a “direct attack on people” based on protected characteristics, including gender. However, the company does allow “humor and social commentary” on hate speech-related topics.
When he got the notification, Forte said he thought, “‘What could have possibly been hate speech?'” Those criticizing him in the removed post and other posts have a grudge against him, Forte said, based on a separate policy debate last year.
“I’m not going to be bullied. And I refuse to let this handful of women bully me into not being who I am. If they thought that joke of all jokes was sexist and misogynistic, oh my God. Not to mention, it’s probably a 30-year-old joke,” he said. He later added, “it wasn’t even all that funny.”
Every day, Forte said he hears some form of support from colleagues and constituents alike, telling him his jokes make their day. “Happens every single day. That’s why I continue to do it,” he said.
Jokes online
After serving a four-year term as a Boiling Spring Lakes Commissioner, Forte ran a successful bid for Brunswick County Commissioner in 2016.
In 2017, a Facebook joke he shared made the rounds online and was eventually picked up by The News & Observer. The joke describes a woman as a “lovely young thing” and uses slang to reference Santa’s genitalia. In June 2018, he shared a quote attributed to English priest and theologian Ronald Knox: “A good sermon should be like a woman’s skirt: short enough to rouse the interest, but long enough to cover the essentials.”
In February, the Commissioner admitted to blocking two constituents after one created a parody page of him (pages impersonating others violate the company’s standards). Legal cases regarding the constitutionality of blocking constituents from public political social media pages are still making their way through the court system. A federal Court of Appeals in Virginia ruled it was unconstitutional in one precedent-setting case in January; in July, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled President Donald Trump’s choice to block critics on Twitter was unconstitutional.
Forte said he unblocked one critic earlier this year, but two months ago, blocked her again. After consulting with the county attorney, Forte said he was told there aren’t any laws on the books that specifically state blocking constituents from public pages is illegal.
In nearly all public meetings he attends, Forte frequently shares what he considers to be honest, straight-forward opinions that supporters tell him are refreshing.
For the hundreds of instances of compliments Forte said he’s received over the years for his jokes, he said that just twice has any colleague told him he pushed the envelope, to which he agrees.
“I’m a father, a grandfather, there’s more to me than just being an elected official. And I don’t think anything I put up is offensive,” he said.
Constituent responds
One Brunswick County resident who Forte admitted to blocking, Liz Grimm, did not find the Commissioner’s joke funny or appropriate.
“It might have been a joke but it’s very — it’s a sexist joke in very poor taste. It has no place on a public page,” Grimm said. Grimm and other commenters said Forte’s post violates Commissioners’ Code of Ethics.
“He typed out, ‘women will never be equal to men.’ And then equates the equality to the sexiness factor,” she said. “I think the issue is much bigger than whether or not it’s hate speech.”
Grimm did not appreciate being called a troll.
“I don’t think that being held accountable is being a troll. I think if you post something highly charged and highly offensive it tells your constituents that you view some of them differently. That some of them are not equal, that they’re not important, that their voice does not matter. I think in this day and age sexist jokes have no business on an elected official’s platform,” she said. “It’s giving him a sound bite with his base. But he doesn’t just represent his base. He doesn’t make decisions for just his base.”
‘Still gonna be me’
Forte is running for re-election in 2020. He said he imagines he’ll take a hit for this, but that it’s not going to change who he is. “It is what it is. I can’t please everybody. I’m not going to get 100% of the votes,” he said.
“The truth is, if I don’t win my primary or I don’t win my election, life’s going to go on. Sun’s going to come up the next day, and I’m still gonna be me. I’m not going to change everything I am because of a couple of people that get butthurt over a simple joke,” Forte said.
Send tips and comments to Johanna Ferebee at johanna@localvoicemedia.com
