Facebook won't stop white nationalists from posting, organising, and promoting themselves on its platform, the company has said – so long as they don't call themselves white supremacists.

Facebook’s moderators – the employees trained to delete offensive material from the site – are explicitly trained to delete posts, photos, comments, groups, pages and profiles that represent or support white supremacists, according to leaked internal materials.

But according to the documents and Facebook officials, the same does not apply to white nationalists – a group that includes people like Jason Kessler, who organised the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, and anti-immigrant groups like the VDare Foundation.

According to Facebook, moderators should delete phrases like “I’m racist and proud,” or “I’m proud to be a Nazi,” while leaving statements like “I’m a proud white nationalist,” and “White separatism is the perfect solution to America’s problems".

“Facebook are making some very arbitrary distinctions here, between groups who they would argue openly advocate hatred towards others,” said Clive Webb, a white supremacy expert and professor of modern American history at the University of Sussex. “[They] don’t seem to understand how the far right operates.”

Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism.

Facebook defines white supremacists as those who believe the white race is superior and should dominate other races, according to training documents first published by Motherboard.

White nationalists, the materials state, seek to “develop and maintain a white identity” and “ensure the survival of the white race". White separatism is defined as a “slightly more extreme version of white nationalism,” that seeks to create “white-only states”. The company claims these ideologies don’t “seem to always be associated with racism (at least not explicitly)”.

This is in contrast to a definition from the Anti-Defamation League – a leading non governmental organisation fighting anti semitism and hate – which identifies white nationalism as a euphemism for white supremacy created by white supremacists.

A Facebook spokesperson told The Independent that the policies in the Motherboard article were accurate, though some were outdated. The distinction between white nationalism and white supremacy still stands, she said.

Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky lists previous examples of Facebook apologies

The spokesperson said Facebook had consulted with multiple academics and non governmental organisations when creating the policy. These experts, she said, emphasised the distinction between the white supremacist desire to dominate and the white nationalist desire to segregate by race.

But Mr Webb said these distinctions meant little in practice. While white supremacists may be explicit in their racism – burning crosses or physically attacking racial minorities – these same beliefs are implicit in a white nationalist credo.

“The implicit assumption is that there can be no commingling of black and white, or Jew and Christian,” Mr Webb explained. “And the reason for that is that those people are deemed to be inferior”.

Indeed, one white nationalist Facebook page known as “Faith and Heritage” has posted repeatedly in defence of slavery. Comments on the page “Stop Islamization of the World” called Indian people “desert rats” and “uncivilised,” and claimed they “DO NOT FIT in our world”.

“Round up and shoot,” one user wrote under a video of protesters in Maharashtra.

A screenshot shows comments on the Stop Islamization of the World Facebook page (Facebook/Stop Islamization of the World)

A Facebook fan page for Mr Kessler encouraged people to attend a second Unite the Right rally, despite Facebook’s policy prohibiting users from promoting white supremacist events. Participants at last year’s rally carried tiki torches and Confederate flags, and chanted “Jews will not replace us”. One woman was killed when a car ploughed through a crowd of counter protesters.

The Facebook spokesperson said any expression of white nationalism would be deleted if coupled with content violating Facebook's rules against hate speech. The posts in question would likely be in violation of those rules, she said, but they had not been removed by the time of publication.

Still, Mr Webb said that by simply allowing these groups to exist – and to distinguish themselves from more widely condemned white supremacists – Facebook was essentially “playing the game for them”.

“White nationalism has been a mechanism by which racists have attempted to cloak their political beliefs with a layer of respectability, and to move themselves out of the margins and into the political mainstream,” he said.