Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO Jonathan Greenblatt praised Facebook’s decision to ban Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and other individuals from its platform.
A Facebook spokesperson told CNN Business Thursday that the social media giant will be banning individuals it deems “dangerous.”
“We’ve always banned individuals or organizations that promote or engage in violence and hate, regardless of ideology,” Facebook 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.”
Facebook also banned David Duke, Paul Nehlen, Alex Jones, Laura Loomer and Milo Yiannopoulos.
Greenblatt said in a statement that Facebook’s move was “long overdue. Still, it’s not enough for tech companies to make fighting hate part of their press strategy,” Greenblatt said. “When Facebook made a similar decision last year, extremists and their supporters were able to circumvent those measures. We will wait and see how Facebook responds to that challenge.”
He added: “Facebook and other platforms need to apply the same degree of energy and intensity to tackling this problem that drives other aspects of their business. We strongly encourage Facebook to share measurable information about the success or failure of this initiative with ADL or other organizations. Whether through external audits or some other verifiable reporting mechanism, we need transparency in order to gauge its performance.”
Similarly, the American Jewish Committee tweeted, “We welcome @facebook’s decision to ban a number of extremists including Louis Farrakhan and Alex Jones. They may have the right to spread vile hatred but Facebook has the right (and responsibility) to say ‘not on our platform.’”
We welcome @facebook’s decision to ban a number of extremists including Louis Farrakhan and Alex Jones. They may have the right to spread vile hatred but Facebook has the right (and responsibility) to say “not on our platform.” https://t.co/bVVbVnkbrz
— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) May 2, 2019
The Simon Wiesenthal Center also tweeted that they commend Facebook “for finally barring America’s hater-in-chief #LouisFarrakhan who for decades has been demonizing #Jews, #Judaism, and America. We hope other leaders in media and public life will follow Facebook’s move.”
Simon Wiesenthal Center commends @Facebook for finally barring America’s hater-in-chief #LouisFarrakhan who for decades has been demonizing #Jews, #Judaism, and America. We hope other leaders in media and public life will follow Facebook’s move. https://t.co/wn5RtnxMB5
— SimonWiesenthalCntr (@simonwiesenthal) May 2, 2019
