Facebook shuts down around 200 hate group accounts
Facebook removed nearly 200 accounts from its platform with links to white supremacist groups, the company revealed on Friday 5 June. In anticipation of the ongoing Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the US, Facebook toldAPthat it took down groups that were encouraging people to attend the events and cause trouble.
Brian Fishman, Facebook’s director of counterterrorism and dangerous organizations police told AP: “We saw that these groups were planning to rally supporters and members to physically go to the protests and in some cases were preparing to go with weapons,” speaking of social media accounts related to the hate groups Proud Boys and the American Guard.
These two groups in particular were already banned from Facebook, but subsidiary groups with white supremacist members were still promoting their causes, hence the action from the company.
It comes as Facebook isunder pressureto moderate the content posted by President Trump, something it has not yet done despite action fromTwitterandSnapchatafter Trump tweeted statements that were said to glorify violence.
Facebook said that approximately 190 accounts were taken down for violating rules prohibiting hate speech.
Author: Henry Burrell, Contributor
Previously Tech Advisor’s Phones Editor, Henry covers and reviews every smartphone worth knowing about. He spends a lot of time moving between different handsets and shouting at WhatsApp to support multiple devices at once.
