Washington Evening Journal
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Facebook deletes city’s page
By Winona Whitaker, Hometown Current
Apr. 15, 2025 7:25 am
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
WILLIAMSBURG — Williamsburg City Clerk Niki Osweiler told the city council Monday that Facebook has removed the city’s page.
Osweiler said Facebook accused the city’s Facebook page of violating its community standards by impersonating the Chamber of Commerce. Osweiler appealed the decision, but Facebook would not restore the page, she said.
Osweiler said she shared news from the Williamsburg Chamber of Commerce on the city’s Facebook page, but that doesn’t constitute impersonating the page. Many cities share Facebook posts from their chambers of commerce, she said.
Osweiler asked the council if it wanted her to start a new city Facebook page.
City Administrator Aaron Sandersfeld offered the option of contacting the Williamsburg Chamber of Commerce to see if it would let the city join its Facebook page. Councilman Tyler Marshall said he’d prefer that the city have its own page.
Marshall said the city needs Facebook because not everyone uses Instagram or other social media apps.
Older people tend to use Facebook, said Sandersfeld. People have told him that the city’s Facebook page is the source they use to know what the city is doing. Some people read the minutes of city council meetings there, he said.
The problem with Facebook is that the business account has to be linked to a personal account, said Sandersfeld.
The council instructed Osweiler to set up a new Facebook page.