Artists and creators regularly use social media to promote their projects to a wider audience. One such creator is Mike Baron, an Eisner winning novelist and writer of comicbooks like The Flash, Nexus, Badger, Star Wars and many others. Baron has recently been promoting his upcoming indie comic ‘Private American’ and used a dedicated Twitter profile to boost news and information about the campaign and its subject matter, that is until yesterday.
Barely two weeks into the crowdfunding campaign for the graphic novel, which examines the dangers at the open US southern border, Twitter abruptly suspended the book’s account without explanation. Chris Braly, the campaign manager, quickly appealed the suspension, but received only a nebulous response from Twitter:
“Your account has been suspended and will not be restored because it was found to be violating the Twitter TOS, specifically the rules against managing multiple accounts for abusive purposes.”
Braly quickly appealed again, providing evidence there was no abusive content on any of the company’s accounts, or his personal account, which he showed were all still active. Twitter declined to offer any further details, leading Baron’s team to conclude that the suspension stems from the unfinished comic’s politically charged subject matter: the dangers of illegal immigration.
Private American tells the story of a Cuban American ex-green beret living in south Texas who reluctantly decides to confront the cartels, narco-terrorists, and other villains crossing the US southern border after the government continues to ignore, and even encourage, the humanitarian crisis.
Baron is most famous for writing Punisher for Marvel Comics, but that hasn’t protected him from big tech censorship of his work. His previous graphic novel, Thin Blue Line, dealt with the 2020 riots, portraying cops as flawed heroes. During that campaign, Facebook temporarily restricted his team from running ads for the project until FOX News reported on it. Baron believes this sort of rampant corporate censorship hurts both liberal and conservative creators.
“Ten years ago, this book wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow,” Baron says. “But in today’s hyper-politicized climate, with a press that won’t do its job, the simple act of stating the obvious truth that borders are necessary, is considered forbidden speech.”
In fact, Baron’s experience with indie projects has been plagued with censorship and discrimination. Last summer, any mention of his Florida Man graphic novel, a non-political comedic tale, was banned from a comics subreddit with millions of members because moderators condemned Mike’s conservative politics.
Baron says he’s not surprised.
“Most people have their hands full doing their job, taking care of their family, and maybe watching a little football on the weekends,” Mike Baron explains, “but there’s a certain class of person who spends every second scheming how to gain power over others and shut down any dissent.”
His team did manage to double their initial crowdfund goal on Indiegogo before the suspension, but with two weeks left in their campaign, and now a limited social media presence, they worry their momentum could slow. Learn more at www.theprivateamerican.com.
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