Meta Smears Chino Valley School District Board President Sonja Shaw

Elite media voices would have us believe that transgender individuals are beleaguered and oppressed. But it often seems that anybody who takes issue with radical transgender orthodoxy ends up getting bludgeoned and smeared by powerful people and institutions.

The latest example is Big Tech targeting Sonja Shaw, Chino Valley School District Board president. Shaw is fighting a pitched legal battle with California Attorney Rob Bonta over the District’s policy that parents be notified if their kids at school start transitioning to a different gender. Last August, Bonta sued to block the policy, claiming it endangers trans kids. In October the judge assigned to the case issued a temporary injunction blocking the policy while the litigation proceeds.

Bonta claimed that what he derisively called the “forced outing” policy would endanger gender non-conforming students because they might be harassed by their own parents. This odious formulation turns concerned parents into predators.

And now Sonja Shaw, the public face of the parental involvement policy, is, along with a colleague, being libeled as an outright child sex predator by Big Tech.

Last Monday March 18 Shaw discovered that when her name is put into search engines for the Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram a warning message linking her to child sex abuse popped up. The message said, “We think that your search might be associated with child sexual abuse” and said searching for such material could lead to imprisonment and other punishments.

The next day one of  Shaw’s lawyers from the Chicago-based Liberty Justice Center fired off a letter to Meta demanding an explanation as to why Shaw was targeted and suggesting they might take legal action.

Buck Dougherty, Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, told the California Globe, “It seems suspicious that this label would be directed at Sonja” and appears to be “retaliation” for her support for parental rights.

“This was extremely egregious behavior,” he added.

On March 19 Dougherty wrote to Meta Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Newstead demanding answers by 5pm Pacific time on March 21. By the time he sent the letter the post slurring Shaw had disappeared.

Dougherty told Newstead that “Ms. Shaw hereby requests written assurance by 5:00 pm Pacific on Thursday, March 21, 2024, that Meta and its employees will never again target Ms. Shaw with another egregiously false statement. Meta’s false message and speech implied to the public that Ms. Shaw herself has been associated with child sexual abuse, which of course is FALSE. “

He also asked for information seeking to determine who was behind the slur.

“Additionally, Ms. Shaw requests an explanation in writing as to how Meta decided to initially issue its false public statement associating and linking her with child sexual abuse, including any communication Meta may have received from any state or federal government officials about Ms. Shaw.”

The letter also notes that Meta slapped the same warning label/slur on California Assembly District 53 candidate Nick Wilson, who has taken similar positions as Shaw, and suggests the false labeling could be a form of concerted retaliation.

“Both Ms. Shaw and Mr. Wilson have been outspoken in advocating for parents’ rights with respect to children’s gender transitions. As chair of the Chino Valley Unified School District board, Ms. Shaw is defending against litigation on its behalf (which we represent) by the California Attorney General regarding the District’s parental notification policies. Meta’s false “sexual abuse” tagging appears as though it could be retaliation against Ms. Shaw and Mr. Wilson for taking political and legal stances with which Meta employees disagree.”

The letter concludes with a threat of possible legal action. “To the extent Meta and its employees are attempting to improperly interfere with ongoing litigation in California courts involving Ms. Shaw and the Chino Valley Unified School District, please be advised that Ms. Shaw intends to exhaust all available legal remedies available to her on her own behalf, as well as Chino Valley Unified School District’s behalf. “

As of this writing on Wednesday morning Meta has not responded to the letter from Shaw’s lawyer, Buck Dougherty.

Doughtery told the California Globe they are weighing their next move but would not get into specifics. He also declined to say if Shaw would sue Meta for libel, which seems like one obvious step.

He just emailed that  “currently we are still evaluating all options and next steps.”

Shaw told the California Globe she cried and felt nauseous when she first learned the sex abuse warming was coupled with her name.  She says Meta’s lack of response to the letter shows she was deliberately targeted. “I got my answer. It wasn’t an accident.” Otherwise they would have said it was just a glitch. “To say nothing means there is something.”

She is weighing her options and preparing for another fight.”I don’t want it to end here. Someone should be held responsible.”

Nick Wilson, the Assembly candidate and a retired police officer, told the California Globe the Meta slur of him and Sonja Shaw was “disgusting.”

“It’s both heart breaking and morally reprehensible,” he added during a telephone interview. “This is an egregious example of targeting parents who want to fight against a system of corruption.”

Wilson says he has filed a complaint against Meta with the San Bernardino DA office and was told by officials there they would investigate the matter.

He is also interested in suing Meta for libel.

The Meta press office did not respond to an emailed inquiry.