UPDATE 5/3/2019: President Donald Trump said on Friday he's monitoring the alleged "censorship" of Americans over social media. "It's getting worse and worse for Conservatives on social media!" he claimed in a series of tweets.

I am continuing to monitor the censorship of AMERICAN CITIZENS on social media platforms. This is the United States of America — and we have what's known as FREEDOM OF SPEECH! We are monitoring and watching, closely!! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2019

Original story:

Facebook and Instagram are banning several right-wing figures—including Alex Jones and his Infowars show, Milo Yiannopoulos, and Laura Loomer—on claims they tried to incite violence or spread hate.

The bans mean that both platforms are erasing all representation the conservative figures have had on the services. Other figures getting booted include black nationalist Louis Farrakhan, white supremacist Paul Nehlen, and conspiracy theorist Paul Joseph Watson.

Facebook, which owns Instagram, didn't cite the specific incidents that caused the company to initiate the takedowns. But the company told PCMag it had undertaken an "extensive" review that determined all the figures named today are "dangerous" individuals based on Facebook's policies.

"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," a company spokesperson said in an email.

Facebook announced the bans a month after it decided to block white nationalism and white separatism on the platform, classifying the ideologies as hate speech.

Prior to today's announcement, Facebook had only banned Alex Jones's Infowars show and affliated pages, but stopped short of removing Jones' personal account on Facebook and Instagram. However, going forward the company will delete all pages, groups, and personal accounts meant to represent Jones and his Infowars show.

Facebook also confirmed it will delete any Infowars links posted to the social network by any user. However, comments supporting or praising Jones and the other figures banned today will be allowed.

In response to the ban, Jones claimed that Facebook was out to silence conservative viewpoints. "This unparalleled censorship by Facebook, which reeks of desperation, likely serves as a way for social media to hinder the president's re-election chances," he said on his Infowars website.

Facebook told PCMag it's historically blocked users from praising someone who's been banned from the site for inciting violence or being a member of a hateful ideology. But in cases where the individual was banned for only posting hate speech, users have been allowed to support the person.

Twitter banned Yiannopoulos in 2016, Nehlen and Jones last year, and Loomer a few months ago. Farrakhan and Watson remain on Twitter.

Editor's Note: This story has been updated with additional information about the ban and comment from Alex Jones.

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