Photo from Flickr. Facebook banned more than four British ultra-right groups April 18 for violating policies on hate speech according to the BBC.
“Individuals and organizations who spread hate, or attack or call for the exclusion of others on the basis of who they are, have no place on Facebook,” the statement said according to BBC. “Under our dangerous individuals and organizations policy, we ban those who proclaim a violent or hateful mission or are engaged in acts of hate or violence.”
Britain First, the British National Party and it’s ex-leader Nick Griffin, the English Defense League, the National Front, neo-nazi Jack Renshaw and other groups and individuals associated with white nationalism and neo-Nazism have been removed.
Britain First had already been removed by Facebook, but the latest actions prohibit support for it on any of the platforms in the United States.
The Jerusalem Post reported that the “all the groups and individuals included in the ban will not be allowed on any Facebook platform, which includes Instagram.” The Facebook statement even added that “posts and other content which expresses praise or support for these figures and groups will also be banned.”
Knights Templar International, one of the groups that has been banned, wrote on its website April 18 that they will be shutting down due to “major tech companies purging patriot groups from their platforms.”
David Furness, the spokesman for the British National Party told The Financial Times April 18 that he was “completely shocked. “If we had been spreading hate, we would have had a visit from the police,” he told the news site. “But we haven’t. We are a legally registered and law-abiding group.”
Following the news the Board of Deputies of British Jews tweeted that it was “great news that Facebook have banned the far-right, including the BNP + EDL.”
Great news that Facebook have banned the far-right, including the BNP + EDL. Today we came across the BNP's 1998 newsletter in our archives, complaining that their rally had been shut down by "a shadowy group of Nazis calling itself the Board of Deputies of British Jews". 💪 #TBT pic.twitter.com/hK9MgIGiS7
— Board of Deputies of British Jews (@BoardofDeputies) April 18, 2019
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