Facebook Doubles Down on Banning a Violence Speech in the US

Facebook Doubles Down on Banning a Violence Speech in the US
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Facebook designated a violent US-based anti-government network as a dangerous organization and banning it from its platform. This network uses the term boogaloo but is distinct from the broader and loosely-affiliated boogaloo movement because it actively seeks to commit violence, Facebbok said.

The company stated that it has for months remove boogaloo content when there was a clear connection to violence or a credible threat to public safety. The new designation will mean that the social network giant removes more content going forward, including Facebook Groups and Pages. As part of thiss action, Facebook designating a violent US-based anti-government network under the Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy and disrupting it on their services. As a result, this violent network is banned from having a presence on the platform and Facebook will remove content praising, supporting or representing it.

This network appears to be based across various locations in the US, and the people within it engage with one another on our platform. It is actively promoting violence against civilians, law enforcement and government officials and institutions. Members of this network seek to recruit others within the broader boogaloo movement, sharing the same content online and adopting the same offline appearance as others in the movement to do so. Facebook designates non-state actors under the Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy after a rigorous process that takes into account both online and offline behavior. During this process, the social network worked to identify an actor’s goals and whether they have a track record of offline violence.

"We know the initial elements of the boogaloo movement began as far back as 2012, and we have been closely following its developments since 2019. We understand that the term has been adopted by a range of anti-government activists who generally believe civil conflict in the US is inevitable. But activists are divided over numerous issues, including the goal of a civil conflict, racism and anti-Semitism, and whether to instigate violent conflict or be prepared to react when it occurs," Facebook said.

The company noted that some people who participated at the Gun Rights Rally that took place in Richmond, VA on January 20, 2020, wore the outfit now typical for boogaloo adherents and have since tracked the movement’s expansion as participants engage at various protests and rallies across the country. More recently, officials have identified violent adherents to the movement as those responsible for several attacks over the past few months. These acts of real-world violence and investigations into them are what led Facebook to identify and designate this distinct network.

In order to make Facebook as inhospitable to this violent US-based anti-government network as possible, the social network conducted a strategic network disruption of their presence, removing 220 Facebook accounts, 95 Instagram accounts, 28 Pages and 106 groups that currently comprise the network. They have also removed over 400 additional groups and over 100 other Pages for violating Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy as they hosted similar content. As part of the designation process, Facebook will identify where it can strengthen how the company enforces policy against this banned network and spot attempts by the violent US anti-government network to return to their platform.