Taylor Hatmaker, TechCrunch, May 2, 2019

Facebook just announced a new round of controversial accounts that will be kicked off the platform for violating its rules. In this instance, Facebook cited its policy against “dangerous individuals and organizations” to bring the ban hammer down on Milo Yiannopoulos, Paul Joseph Watson, Laura Loomer, Paul Nehlen, Louis Farrakhan. The company also doubled down on its position toward Alex Jones and his popular conspiracy website Infowars.

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While most people in that cluster of names are far right media figures, Farrakhan is best known for leading the Nation of Islam and has faced ongoing criticism for anti-semitism. {snip}

Beyond just banning these accounts, Facebook will restrict content from other users that promotes banned figures if they are linked to hate groups or known to incite violence. The company will not take this more comprehensive approach to accounts that don’t meet this threshold. {snip}

{snip} Following the ban, Paul Watson leveraged his Twitter account to protest the company’s actions. “The media was tipped off an hour before Facebook banned me,” Watson tweeted. “They’re in cahoots.”

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