A Republican grassroots candidate, Mark Harvey, is running for a seat on the Alameda County Board of Education. He says social media ads helped him connect with voters, until all his Meta accounts went dark on May 2, a month before the election. He called 7 On Your Side to fix it as the election is less than two weeks away.
Friday, May 22, 2026 7:49PMA candidate for the Alameda County Board of Education says he was blocked from reaching voters on social media.
"Having my voice taken away is a violation of my freedom of speech... and it's a violation of the electoral process... That's dangerous," Mark Harvey said. For weeks, he had no idea why -- or how -- to get it back. So he called 7 On Your Side to fix it, as the election is less than two weeks away.
Castro Valley resident Mark Harvey is passionate about education. The father of four is running for a seat on the Alameda County Board of Education. The Republican grassroots candidate says social media ads helped him connect with voters... until all his Meta accounts went dark on May 2, a month before the election.
"I couldn't get into Facebook, so I turned on my laptop and saw that I had two emails from Meta, Facebook. The first one said that my account was suspended and that I could appeal," Harvey said. But he says two minutes later...
"What was your reaction? " 7 On Your Side's Stephanie Sierra asked. Bay Area software rep. lost $176K of savings after accepting remote job she thought to be with FBHarvey says Meta provided no clear explanation or way to appeal. He lost his personal Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger accounts, too.
"I feel like they've silenced me," Harvey said. "I just see it as campaign interference. I mean, I've called it what it is.
""Nothing that I can imagine," Harvey said. Meta says it has a strict ad authorization process, including ID verification and two-factor authentication. The tech giant says repeated violations can lead to permanent restrictions. According to Harvey, he followed all the rules, got approved and was charged for running his ads, many involving collages showing photos of local businesses that support him.
"For people who know me, I keep it light, bright and polite online. My campaign was never negative. I don't post negative things online," Harvey said.
"There's essentially no way to get through to them," Harvey said. "Within 10 minutes, I got a phone call from 7 On Your Side, which was astounding," Harvey said. After Stephanie Sierra contacted Meta, the company restored his all his account within 20 minutes of the interview, except WhatsApp, which was reinstated on Thursday.
"I just think 7 On Your Side seems to have a heart and seems to be the group that gets things done," Harvey said. Harvey says after his accounts were restored, he noticed two random people listed as ad account admins on his campaign page.
"I have no idea who they are! " Harvey said. "And when I click to remove users, it says I don't have access to do that. " Meta could not confirm exactly why the account was suspended but told 7 On Your Side it may have been caused by a procedural error during account setup. 7 On Your Side has received dozens of complaints from Meta users over the past year alleging unfair account suspensions.
Some users describe they were suddenly locked out of their accounts due to "violating community standards" or "inappropriate material," citing reasons such as "child sexual exploitation" -- allegations the viewers deny and say that Meta refused to cite the posts in question. According to Meta, once an account is flagged, a thorough investigation follows to determine whether the page is in violation.
However, some tech experts have raised questions about whether Meta's AI moderation or security systems are detecting suspicious or rule-violating activity, even if it is not intentional.
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Alameda County Board Of Education Mark Harvey Mark Harvey Meta 7 On Your Side Elections Election Electoral Process Free Speech Freedom Of Speech Campaign Interference Meta Accounts Go Dark Account Suspension AI Moderation Security Systems Concerns
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