Facebook insists on the right to freedom of expression. But the company is increasingly criticized for racist posts by users. Large companies impose an advertising boycott. Now Facebook is responding and closing accounts and pages of a right-wing extremist network in the USA.
Facebook has blocked around 320 accounts, 28 pages and more than 100 groups from a right-wing extremist network that strives for violence on its platforms. The anti-government network is now classified as a "dangerous organization" and banned from all platforms, said Facebook. Posts that expressed support for the organization would also be deleted in the future. Facebook had recently come under pressure – also through an advertising boycott – to act harder against hateful and racist content.
The network is therefore made up of groups that loosely follow the right-wing extremist Boogaloo movement and sometimes also use their names. "It is actively seeking to promote violence against civilians, security forces, officials and government institutions," said Facebook. Therefore, 220 Facebook accounts and 95 Instagram accounts were deleted. In addition, 400 other groups and 100 pages were deleted, which also violated Facebook's guidelines and distributed content similar to the network. Boogaloo content calling for violence would always be deleted, Facebook said.
Freedom of expression
Facebook had recently become increasingly on the defensive because of its hesitant handling of problematic content. Numerous companies – including well-known names such as Coca-Cola, Unilever, Starbucks and Volkswagen – have announced that they will suspend their advertising on social networks as a result of the debate about hate messages.
Facebook refers to the right of freedom of expression, but has recently announced that it will do more to combat hate messages. The company said, "As long as there are violent movements in the physical world, they will also try to take advantage of digital platforms."
Facebook was criticized, among other things, for the fact that – unlike Twitter – the company did not take action against controversial posts by US President Donald Trump. In addition, the death of African-American George Floyd in a police operation and subsequent protests have given the debate on racism in the United States a significant boost.
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