Following the recent ban of multiple conservative figures across Facebook and its photo-sharing platform Instagram, the company told Breitbart News that it has concluded that even non-violent individuals are too”dangerous” to allow on the platform.
Breitbart News recently reported that Instagram and its parent company Facebook has banned a number of conservative personalities from its platforms, including Infowars host Alex Jones, Infowars contributor and YouTube star Paul Joseph Watson, journalist and activist Laura Loomer, and Milo Yiannopoulos. Louis Farrakhan was notably also banned from the platforms at the same time.
Breitbart News reached out to Facebook for comment on the recent blacklisting of conservative figures which the site branded as “dangerous.” A Facebook spokesperson explained the site’s reason for banning conservatives, stating: “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.”
Facebook has explained that the conservaties were banned based on a number of factors including whether have previously called for violence or have described themselves as members of a “hateful ideology,” and used racial slurs. If users have also had content removed from Facebook’s platforms for violating hate speech policies they may be at risk of their personal accounts also being removed.
The spokesperson further explained that although many these individuals have not called for violence or extreme measures, they could still meet Facebook’s criteria for “dangerous individuals.” The company believes that in this case, it believes that the best option is to remove these people from its platform. The spokesperson does note that this does not prevent other users on the platform from praising banned individuals.
It appears that even those that specifically do not call for violence or extremist tactics are still at risk of being branded as “dangerous” by the Masters of the Universe in Silicon Valley. Breitbart News will continue to report on Facebook’s latest actions and recent series of bannings.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com