Zed Books' Facebook page removal 'result of third party'

Zed Books’ Facebook page was by removed an unrelated third party who had access to administrative privileges, it has now been revealed.

Zed Books earlier released a statement saying its company’s worldwide Facebook page had been removed “without warning or explanation” in an act of alleged censorship by the social media company after publicising books critical of the Turkish government on its page.

However, the publisher has now told The Bookseller that after conversations with Facebook, the company now believes its page was removed by a "third party" who was not a Zed employee or a representative of Facebook.

A spokesperson for Facebook said: “Facebook has not taken Zed Books page down. We are in contact with them to help understand what has happened and to resolve the situation.”

Huw Lemmey, communications director at Zed Books, said Facebook had told him it had not taken its page down, and instead it had become the victim of a security breach, with the page removed by someone outside of Zed Books.

However, he added that the company was seeking clarification from Facebook over the community guidelines relating to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and freedom of speech.

Earlier a spokesperson for Zed Books had said it had requested further clarification from Facebook as to the reasons for the removal of its page, but had received no response. “We are worried that the removal of our company’s Facebook page may be part of a pattern of suppression against the distribution and promotion of academic research and books related to the current Turkish administration and their ongoing war with Kurdish separatists,” the company had said.