My Damned Kind's Matt Lorigan is bemused by a Facebook ruling. Photo / Paul Brooks
My Damned Kind's Matt Lorigan is bemused by a Facebook ruling. Photo / Paul Brooks
Whanganui rock band My Damned Kind have been around for years, and their Facebook page is no newby either, but imagine their shock when Facebook decided their name didn't suit the social media giant's image.
It was March 3 and band leader Matt Lorigan posted this: "hi guys so todayI get a notice from facebook saying our band page name My Damned Kind goes against their profanity policy and must be changed." He added: "hmmmm so which word are they talking about 'Damned' maybe meaning 'condemned or doomed, especially to eternal punishment: the wailing of damned souls. detestable; loathsome:' or are they talking about the word 'Kind' or 'my'. Would really like your guys input here, do you feel our band name is offensive?"
"What part of this is supposed to be profanity?" asks Matt.
Matt has sent a "please explain" message to Facebook, but, so far, they have not replied. "I could understand if we were dropping F-bombs and publishing questionable content, but we don't do anything like that. In fact, we haven't been doing a lot on our Facebook page because there hasn't been a lot to post about."
He thinks maybe a rogue algorithm is responsible, picking up the word "damned" ... but even so. "It's pretty mild. I was really dumbfounded."
With no response forthcoming from Facebook, and with the threat of the page being taken down, Matt has changed the name of their Facebook page to MDK. "We've been on this platform for years under that name, we've spent thousands of dollars through Facebook, doing ads, promoting our tribute shows, our original music, our gigs, all under My Damned Kind. All the ads have been approved by Facebook administration, they've taken our money, so why, all of a sudden, is that word deemed offensive? "It is bizarre, but I would imagine it's happening to a lot of people. It's a breach of freedom of expression. Where does it stop? "When we came up with that name, it was statement of how we view humankind."
Matt sees the funny side of it but is not happy with the idea of changing the band's name. "My Damned Kind was formed in 2013, eight years ago, and in that time we've spent a lot of money on the platform advertising and promoting our name." Matt wore the band T-shirt for our photo.
