Amongst the many things clamoring for my attention this morning was the news from Finland that Facebook has closed down the fan page for Iron Sky, the sci-fi comedy film about Nazis on the moon. Apparently someone, either at Facebook or making a complaint, has got it into their heads that the film is pro-Nazi propaganda. That’s right up there with the crazy conspiracy theorists who mistook Iron Sky’s clever spoof newspaper, The Truth Today, for actual proof that a Nazi base had been discovered on the moon.
Of course, this being Facebook, punishment was meted out without any attempt to contact the accused or explain why they had been published, and thus far Facebook as not responded to requests for dialog. There’s a protest group on Facebook here, and bizarrely a couple of fan groups about the film are still up. It is only the film’s official fan page that has been taken down.
Update: Success! The Iron Sky fan page is back. See here for a rather inadequate apology from Facebook.
I am reminded of the fate that befell Norman Spinrad’s “The Iron Dream” in Germany.
From Ye Olde Wiki:
“In 1982, the book was “indexed” (i.e., de facto banned) in Germany by the Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien for its alleged promotion of Nazism; Spinrad’s publisher, Heyne Verlag, challenged this in court and, until the ban was overturned in 1990, the book could be sold, but not advertised or publicly displayed.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Iron_Dream#Critical_reaction