"We ban these organizations and individuals from our platforms and also remove all praise and support when we become aware of it," Facebook said.
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| © Susan Watts/New York Daily News Image: CUNY Protests |
By David Ingram, NBC News
Facebook on Tuesday began taking down pages affiliated with the
"Proud Boys," a far-right organization whose members were allegedly
involved in a violent fight in New York this month.
Pages on Facebook and Instagram that previously belonged to the group
disappeared and instead showed messages saying they were not available.
The social networking company confirmed the move and cited its policies against hate organizations and figures.
Several members of the Proud Boys were arrested
this month, in the days after police said the group was involved in a
fight with masked protesters belonging to the anti-fascist coalition
Antifa. The fight occurred after Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes gave a speech on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
McInnes could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Social media services and other tech companies have faced pressure
from some users to be more aggressive in enforcing their bars on hate
speech, especially as online threats have evolved into violence in the
real world. Other users have expressed concern about the companies
becoming more powerful arbiters of speech.
Facebook said in a
statement that it was studying trends in organized hate speech and
working with partners including nonprofit organizations to understand
how hate groups evolve.
"We ban these organizations and
individuals from our platforms and also remove all praise and support
when we become aware of it," the company said.
Researchers have doubted
the effectiveness of Facebook's enforcement, pointing to growing
anti-Semitism on Instagram, for example, but the company said it was
committed to "take action against hate speech and hate organizations to
help keep our community safe."
Twitter suspended
accounts belonging to McInnes and the Proud Boys in August, citing its
policy about "violent extremist groups." It was not immediately clear if
other tech companies would follow in Twitter and Facebook's steps.
McInnes founded Proud Boys in 2016 and describes it as a "fraternal organization" for young "Western chauvinist" men. The Southern Poverty Law Center characterizes it as a hate group.
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