Facebook banned "dangerous individuals" – BBC News



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From left to right: Milo Yiannopoulous, Alex Jones and Louis Farrakhan

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Milo Yiannopoulous, Alex Jones and Louis Farrakhan have all been banned

Facebook bans several personalities that he considerss as "dangerous individuals".

The social network has accused Alex Jones, the host of the right-wing InfoWars conspiracy website, his British publisher Paul Joseph Watson, and the former editor of Breitbart News, Milo Yiannopoulos, of hate speech.

Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam who has expressed anti-Semitic views, will also be excluded.

Facebook has already banned British anti-Islamic groups such as Britain First.

The latest ban also applies to Instagram, owned by Facebook.

"We have always banned individuals or organizations that promote or engage in violence and hatred, regardless of their ideology," the company said in a statement.

"The process of assessing potential offenders is complex and this is what led us to our decision to delete these accounts today."

The banned group also includes Paul Nehlen, a white supremacist, and Laura Loomer, an anti-Islamic activist with a strong presence on social media.

In November, Ms. Loomer is handcuffed to a Twitter building in New York City in protest against the ban on this platform.

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Laura Loomer is among those banned from the platform

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Getty Images

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White supremacist Paul Nehlen, on the right, twice participated in the Republican primaries

However, Facebook has been criticized for warning bans, giving people a chance to redirect their subscribers to other services.

Thursday, for a short time, Alex Jones broadcast on Facebook its imminent ban.

"I'm about to be banned," Yiannopoulos wrote to his followers on Instagram. "Sign up for my mailing list before the disappearance of this account."

A Facebook spokesperson said the ban would apply to all types of representation of people on Facebook and Instagram.

The firm said that it would delete the pages, groups and accounts created to represent them, and would not allow the promotion of events if it knew that the prohibited person was participating.

In an email, Facebook explained its reason for banning users:

  • Alex Jones hosted Proud Boys leader Gavin McInnes, whose members are known for their racist, anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric. McInnes named "hate-motivated" by Facebook
  • Facebook said this year that Milo Yiannopoulos had publicly congratulated Mr. McInnes and the founder of the English Defense League, Tommy Robinson, both banned from the network.
  • Laura Loomer also appeared with Mr. McInnes, and Facebook also congratulated another Prohibited Personality, Faith Goldy, a Canadian
  • The leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, was banned for making anti-Semitic remarks at the beginning of the year.

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