Facebook is banning white nationalism.
Demand other social media platforms
do the same
!
Dear friend,
Following pressure from Color Of Change members, engagement with our team, and an investigation by Motherboard, Facebook is taking serious steps to block white nationalism and separatism on Facebook and Instagram.1 2
Under their new policy, Facebook will now ban content that includes explicit praise, support, or representation of white nationalism or separatism. Additionally, Facebook will start connecting people who search for white nationalist phrases to resources that help people leave hate groups. While Facebook still has more to do to ensure this policy is properly enforced, it is a significant step forward that will help keep us safer on and offline.
Facebook’s steps here are critical, and we need other major tech companies like Twitter, YouTube, and Amazon to take similar actions to fight white nationalism online.3 These companies continue to play an outsized role in enabling white nationalist violence, and we must pressure them to act urgently to stem the growth of hate on their platforms. We cannot wait for the next white nationalist terror attack to hold these companies accountable.
Hateful white nationalist ideologies continue to find space on major online platforms to spread the violent ideas and rhetoric that inspired the tragic attacks witnessed in Charlottesville, Pittsburgh, and now Christchurch. From social media to e-commerce, online payment providers, online ticketing platforms, and domain hosts, mainstream technology companies continue to provide services that allow white supremacists to spread their message, recruit new members, and fund and plan their violence. But the tools are there for them to do better.
For nearly two years we’ve been working with other civil rights and racial justice organizations on a comprehensive set of corporate policies to help tech companies stop hate and extremism online.
Together with the Southern Poverty Law Center, Free Press, Center for American Progress, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, and the Lawyers’ Committee, we have developed a robust and expansive set of policies that would significantly reduce the spread of hate on tech platforms. Our proposal, “Change the Terms, Reducing Hate in Tech,” paints a vision for the future of tech platforms, one in which addressing the impacts of hate and violence on our communities is a priority for these companies.4
The haphazard fixes and one-off removals of violent actors after tragedies occur are not going to cut it. This piecemeal approach by tech companies to address hate online has engendered real world violence, and it’s time tech companies take responsibility for their role in it.
Until justice is real,
Brandi, Rashad, Arisha, Evan, Johnny, Future, Saréya, Eesha, Samantha, and the rest of the Color Of Change team
References :
- "These Are Facebook’s Policies for Moderating White Supremacy and Hate" Motherboard, 20 May 2018 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/122942?t=8&akid=23922%2E1942551%2EFrY-4_
- "Facebook Bans White Nationalism and White Separatism," Motherboard, 27 March 2019 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/122943?t=10&akid=23922%2E1942551%2EFrY-4_
- "Standing Against Hate," Facebook Newsroom, 27 March 2019 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/122944?t=12&akid=23922%2E1942551%2EFrY-4_
- "Change the Terms, Reducing Hate Online" https://act.colorofchange.org/go/122929?t=14&akid=23922%2E1942551%2EFrY-4_
