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Facebook bans Farrakhan, others for alleged hate speech
Facebook announced on Thursday that it has banned several high-profile accounts and people from its platform, including Nation of Islam leader, Minister Louis Farrakhan, according to USA Today.
The social media giant claims it made the decision because the accounts violated its rules against “dangerous individuals and organizations.”
Within the past months, Facebook has been working on banning groups and pages for hate speech and bullying. Now it looks like they are taking this effort to another level.
Figures such as Infowars publisher, Alex Jones and political commentator, Milo Yiannopoulos, are among the list of names that have also been blocked.
“We’ve always banned individuals or organizations that promote or engage in violence and hate, regardless of ideology.
“The process for evaluating potential violators is extensive and it is what led us to our decision to remove these accounts today,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement.
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This act is the latest effort Facebook has committed to after “pledging” that they were going “to clean up” the website.
Many people, including rapper Snoop Dogg have criticized Facebook for its decision.
The hip-hop legend shared his thoughts on Instagram earlier on Thursday with the caption: P. S. A. @louisfarrakhan23
“For real, that’s how y’all feel,” Snoop Dogg said. “So Facebook and Instagram just banned the Minister Louis Farrakhan. I want to know for what? All he ever do is tell the truth, but y’all gon’ ban him though?”
“Alright, what if we ban yall?” he goes on to say.
Recently in March, the platform banned white nationalism and separatism soon after the death of 50 people in Christchurch, New Zealand mosques were live-streamed on its site.
Facebook has also been stricter on anti-vaccination posts, and also pages and groups that share “banned content.”