Facebook bans 'dangerous individuals'
Dave Lee
North America technology reporter
Milo Yiannopoulous, Alex Jones and Louis Farrakhan have all
been banned
Facebook is banning several prominent figures it regards as
"dangerous individuals".
The social network accused Alex Jones, host of right-wing
conspiracy website InfoWars, its UK editor Paul Joseph Watson and ex-Breitbart
News editor Milo Yiannopoulos of hate speech.
Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader who has
expressed anti-Semitic views, will also be excluded.
Facebook has already banned anti-Islamic UK groups such
Britain First.
The latest ban also applies on Instagram, which Facebook
owns.
"We’ve always banned individuals or organisations that
promote or engage in violence and hate, regardless of ideology,” the company
said in a statement.
"The process for evaluating potential violators is
extensive and it is what led us to our decision to remove these accounts
today."
The banned group also includes Paul Nehlen, a white
supremacist, and Laura Loomer, an anti-Islamic activist with a large social
media presence.
In November, Ms Loomer handcuffed herself to a Twitter
building in New York in protest at being banned from that platform.
However, Facebook has been criticised for giving forewarning
of the bans, giving those affected a chance to redirect their followers to
other services.
For a brief time on Thursday, Alex Jones was broadcasting,
on Facebook, about his impending ban.
“I’m about to be banned," wrote Mr Yiannopoulos to his
followers on Instagram. "Please sign up for my mailing list before this
account disappears."
A spokesperson at Facebook said the ban will apply to all
types of representation of the individuals on both Facebook and Instagram.
The firm said it would remove pages, groups and accounts set
up to represent them, and would not allow the promotion of events when it knows
the banned individual is participating.
In an email, Facebook explained its rationale for banning
the users:
It said Alex Jones had hosted on his programme Gavin
McInnes, leader of the Proud Boys, whose members are known for racist,
anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric. Mr McInnes has been designated a
"hate figure" by Facebook
Facebook said this year Milo Yiannopoulos had publicly
praised both Mr McInnes and English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson, both
banned from the network
Laura Loomer also appeared with Mr McInnes, and Facebook
said she also praised another banned figure, Faith Goldy, a Canadian
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan was banned for making
several anti-Semitic remarks earlier this year
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário