Meta has removed a Facebook page promoting the anonymous website BigBendTimes.org after determining it violated the company’s Community Standards, marking the latest setback for a campaign that targeted this newsroom and its publisher.
According to a notification received Thursday, Meta reviewed the page and concluded it violated its Community Standards. The company removed the page, which had amassed approximately 70 followers, and informed its operator of the decision without revealing the identity of the person who reported it.
The page primarily promoted content from BigBendTimes.org, an anonymous website that adopted a name nearly identical to Big Bend Times, the former name of this publication, while publishing repeated personal attacks and false allegations directed at this newsroom and publisher David Flash.
The confusion created by the similarly named website was one of the reasons this publication rebranded earlier this year as Big Bend Reporter, distancing itself from a campaign that sought to impersonate and undermine a legitimate local news organization.
Big Bend Reporter previously reported that political filings, domain records, communications and other evidence linked the anonymous website to Jeff Davis County Republican Party Chairman Jake Knobloch. The publication has alleged the website was created to retaliate against reporting on local government and to harass a journalist rather than provide legitimate news coverage.
The website has repeatedly published false and defamatory claims, including personal attacks unrelated to public affairs.
Among those who publicly amplified content from the anonymous website was Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland. Big Bend Reporter previously reported on Cleveland regarding alleged violations of the Texas Public Information Act and criticized what it described as his public grandstanding portraying the border region as unusually dangerous during appearances on conservative media outlets.
According to this publication, Cleveland was advised that the website’s allegations were false and defamatory but continued sharing its content. Jeff Davis County Attorney Ken Bellah was likewise informed that material published by the website contained false and defamatory allegations before it was repeatedly shared.
Meta did not specify which Community Standards the page violated, nor did the company identify the page’s operator.
While the BigBendTimes.org website remained accessible independently as of Thursday, its Facebook presence has now been removed after Meta concluded the page violated its platform rules.
