Facebook has a way of labelling and categorizing ideologies and individuals that it has banned. But how does it view other groups it hasn’t banished?
On May 2, Facebook banned Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam, Infowars’ Alex Jones and Paul Joseph Watson, Laura Loomer, and a handful of others. These individuals and any links promoting them were banned from Facebook and Facebook’s sister company, Instagram. Facebook told CNN that “We’ve always banned individuals or organizations that promote or engage in violence and hate, regardless of ideology.”
Facebook labelled all the individuals banned as “dangerous.” However, while it told CNN that it takes much deliberation to determine whether or not someone is dangerous, it has not made any decisions on other groups on Facebook and Instagram that might also fall under the category of “dangerous” and “engaging in violence.”
A group on Facebook, known as the Kurdish Freedom Fighters, has over 5,000 members. The group’s description says that “they are fighting ISIS...with antiquated weapons. These brave women strike fear into ISIS as to be killed by one of these women means there is no heaven and no 72 virgins. In saying this, also has its downside for to be captured by ISIS brings unspeakable torture so they often take their own lives.”
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The brave Kurdish Freedom Fighters could, theoretically, be classified as “dangerous” and “violent” based on that paragraph alone.
In addition, Facebook does not seem interested in taking down legitimate terrorist groups that are still active on the platform. The Palestinian Hamas, designated by the United States as a terrorist group in 1995, is still active on Facebook.
Hezbollah, another Palestinian group, is also active on Facebook. The United States designated Hezbollah as a terrorist group in 2005.
Another group, the left-wing outfit RedNeck Revolt, with 44,000 likes and followers, frequently posts violent content, including “37 active cells distributed a training manual with sections on “kidnapping”, “executions”, "sabotage" and “terrorism.”
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