JAN KNUCKEY BANNED BY FACEBOOK!

Jan "Big Boots" Knuckey, the legendary Cornish miner and wrassler, has been banned by Facebook. On returning to the UK after visiting Celtic cousins in Brittany, Jan found that he was no longer able to log in to Facebook, because his user ID had been revoked.
Jan Knuckey, by Damien Hirst (reproduced by permission of MOMA, NY)

The reasons for Jan's ban are unclear. It seems likely that someone objected to one of his posts, but he is none the wiser because Facebook won't divulge any information -- neither (perhaps understandably) the identity of the objector, nor even the post that was objected to. No warning was given.

Jan has long been a friend of the Roundup, and we suspect that his offending post might have been one that pointed to one of our complimentary articles about English Heritage.

Be warned: apparently anyone can be banned by Facebook, without warning or explanation, if one nameless person complains. This system seems to us to be akin to the "bocca di leone" ("lion's mouth") letter box provided by the government of medieval Venice, so that its citizens could secretly denounce one another.

However, the Knuckeys are made of stern stuff, and will not be browbeaten in this way. Already, Jan's sister Janis has taken up the cudgels on his behalf, and has set up her own Facebook account.