Facebook and Instagram restriction Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, other reactionary figures

Facebook is punishing extremist figures and groups.

The social media on Thursday disallowed Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist who hosts InfoWars, along with reactionary analysts Milo Yiannopoulos and Laura Loomer. The restriction, that included InfoWars, encompasses the social media’s Instagram photo-sharing service. The social media likewise prohibited Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, and a number of other questionable figures. 

A day later on, President Donald Trump suggested he understood the circumstance, stating in a tweet that he will continue to keep track of the “censorship” of Americans on social networks platforms. He didn’t point out Facebook in his remarks.

Protesters likewise staged a little rally in downtown San Francisco, arranging around the hashtag #DemandFreeSpeech. 

Facebook stated the prohibited individuals and groups had actually broken its guidelines versus hazardous people and companies. The relocation highlights Facebook’s harder position versus hate speech as it deals with criticism from activists, legislators and the general public. Facebook has actually rejected allegations that it censors conservative voices. 

“We’ve always banned individuals or organizations that promote or engage in violence and hate, regardless of ideology,” a Facebook representative stated in a declaration. “The process for evaluating potential violators is extensive and it is what led us to our decision to remove these accounts today.”

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In an email on Friday, Loomer said that she was “beyond upset” that Facebook called her a “dangerous individual.” She accused the company of having a “liberal agenda.”

“I’m a clear and ongoing threat to their liberal agenda,” she wrote, “and Facebook made the decision to ban me and other strong voices well before the 2020 Election to avoid even more controversy in the future.”

Facebook said it considers various factors in determining who is a “dangerous individual,” including whether the person has called for or committed acts of violence against people of certain races, ethnicities or national origins. The social network also looks at whether the person is a “self-described or identified follower of a hateful ideology.”

In part, Facebook banned Jones for hosting far-right commentator Gavin McInnes, who the social network had previously designated as a hate figure. Yiannopoulos praised McInnes and British far-right activist Tommy Robinson, who Facebook had also banned. Loomer praised and supported far-right political commentator Faith Goldy. 

Facebook said it will remove pages, groups and accounts set up to represent the banned people. Facebook events will also be pulled down if a banned individual is participating. On Thursday, several pages that represented Jones, Yiannopoulos and other figures who Facebook banned were still up for a period of time after the ban was announced. 

The social network appears to have announced the bans before it completed pulling down all of the affected pages, according to several reports. That gave some of the affected figures time to redirect readers to other sites and services where they were still active.

Facebook has been under mounting pressure from civil rights groups to crack down on hate speech, particularly in the wake of the New Zealand mosque shootings. In March, Facebook said it was banning white nationalist and white separatist content from the platform. 

Farrakhan and Jones didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Yiannopoulos couldn’t immediately be reached. 

Originally published May 2 at 11:35 a.m. PT
Update, 12:54 p.m.: Includes more background from Facebook. Update, May 3 at 5:35 p.m. PT: Adds Trump, Loomer responses