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Friday 3 July 2020

Its All In The Name

There are many reasons why someone may be barred from trying for political office but not from campaigning via social media ....

Anus on Facebook Bad - Anu OK

.... they may be under-aged, or the wrong nationality, or an ex criminal. But rarely is it because they have the wrong name.

I guess that anyone called Hitler in Germany, might face issues campaigning and on social media (although as we have seen, not elsewhere), but generally speaking, your surname doesn't disbar you from either. But if your surname happens to be Anus, then campaigning problems can arise all over the place.

Monsieur Luc Anus was banned from campaigning on social media by Facebook, because they deemed his surname offensive. Monsieur Anus was using the platform to campaign in Belgium for the position of town Councillor, in the town of Lobbes near Charleroi.

Now the first thing to note about this story is that Belgium is not an English speaking country (Dutch Walloon and French), and the second is that this the same Facebook that has real trouble stopping Islamic extremists posting videos of killings on their site as well the anti-vaccination and 5G carries viruses crappola.

Sadly though, anus is actually the same in spelling and meaning in both French and Dutch Walloon, as it is in English. Although the meaning is more like 'bottom', than the exit of the alimentary canal, as it is is English. Think of the English surname of Longbottom, which refers to a strip of land.

Nevertheless, the name has caused Monsieur Anus problems all his life (much like kids with the surname bottom would get at school) .... and he said he is fed up of being the butt of peoples jibes. "The lack of respect of people, who obviously feel very strong behind a screen, is small. But I have never thought about changing it, even when I was at school." Speaking as someone who knew a girl called 'violet smells,' I can sympathise with his dilemma, as she took a little bit of grief over her name, and sometimes cried (kids can be cruel).

However I really think that Facebook really need to grow up, and realise that the whole world is not governed by Anglo-American sensibilities, and that words may only be offensive in some cultures. e.g. Puffs marketed its tissues under that brand name in Germany even though "puff" is German slang for a brothel, and is verboten in the Anglo-Saxon world, as it is a pejorative term for homosexuals.

As for Monsieur Anus, he changed his Facebook profile to Anu, and bobs your uncle he kept his campaign account .... odd behaviour by Facebook.

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