LinkedIn apologizes for labeling Air Force vet’s post as ‘hate speech’By Joe Tacopino
April 11, 2022
LinkedIn reversed course on Monday and reinstated an Air Force veteran’s post about student loans and apologized for labeling the innocuous statement as “hate speech.”
“Freedom has been secured with our blood, sweat, lives and tears,” the veteran, Gretchen Smith, told Fox News. “Every American has a duty to protect our freedoms.”
She added: “I am grateful LinkedIn reinstated our account. Now we can resume focusing on veterans in crisis/need.”
Last week Smith, founder of the non-profit organization Code of Vets, shared a post that encouraged people to claw their way out of student loan debt.
“I am not responsible for your student debt,” Smith wrote in posts on both LinkedIn and Twitter. “I grew up in poverty in NC. Ate from a garden, name was on a community Angel tree for Christmas, bought clothes from yard sales & if I was lucky, on a rare occasion Sky City. I joined the Air Force then went to college. I made it happen.”
The post came after President Biden announced that federal student loan repayments would be paused through Aug. 31, extending the moratorium that had been set to expire next month.
The Air Force vet was baffled when the social media network removed her post and restricted her account because, they said in a message, the missive “goes against our policy on hate speech.”
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2022/04/11/linkedin-apologizes-for-labeling-vets-post-as-hate-speech/
