Facebook has reportedly banned a series of individuals and organisation from far-right groups who 鈥渟pread hate鈥�. The notorious 鈥淏ritish National Party鈥� and the infamous 鈥淓nglish Defence League鈥� are amongst the groups that have been banned.
The full list of banned groups and individuals are: 鈥淣ick Griffin,鈥� the 鈥淣ational Front,鈥� 鈥淧aul Golding,鈥� 鈥淛ayda Fransen,鈥� 鈥淧aul Ray,鈥� 鈥淜nights Templar International,鈥� 鈥淛im Dowson,鈥� 鈥淭ony Martin,鈥� 鈥淛ack Renshaw鈥� and 鈥淏ritain First.鈥�
When asked to justify its actions Facebook has stated that these groups have a 鈥渧iolent or hateful mission鈥� and therefore 鈥渉ave no place on Facebook鈥�. Facebook have also announced that any comments praising the banned organisations or individuals will also be removed from the site.
MP Yvette Cooper, chair of the Home Affairs Select committee, has stated that this ban was 鈥渓ong overdue鈥�. Far right organisations do not deserve a platform and we must prevent them from spreading their hateful and offensive messages. Cooper further added that 鈥渟ocial media companies have been facilitating extremist and hateful content online鈥� for far too long.
Facebook had previously banned the organisation Britain first as well as problematic characters such as Tommy Robinson. However, despite this effort many were dissatisfied with Facebook鈥檚 safety measures. These new restrictions are much more thorough, than any previous checks used by Facebook. Facebook have now promised to block 鈥減raise, support and representation of white nationalism and separatism鈥�. This ban also extends to Instagram.
This decision has come as a relief to many who were the victims of the vile language of far white nationalists. To many this is an important and necessary step, as the world strives to fight and tackle hate speech across the globe.
