May 03, 2019

Andrew Campbell

Facebook announced on April 2 that it had designated some high-profile personalities, including the leader of the Nation of Islam Louis Farrakhan, who is notorious for using anti-Semitic language, and right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, as "dangerous individuals and organizations" and said it will remove them from its platforms and other services. Facebook also banned Milo Yiannopoulos, Laura Loomer, Paul Joseph Watson, Paul Nehlen and InfoWars and removed pages, groups, and accounts set up to represent them.

"We've always banned individuals or organizations that promote or engage in violence and hate, regardless of ideology," a Facebook spokesperson released in a statement provided to CNN Business, and said "The process for evaluating potential violators is extensive and it is what led us to our decision to remove these accounts today."

Facebook accused Alex Jones, host of right-wing conspiracy website InfoWars, its UK editor Paul Joseph Watson, a white supremacist Paul Nehlen, an anti-Islamic activist Laura Loomer known for her Russia-related conspiracy theories and the former Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos of hate speech.

Facebook also said it is banning the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, a frequent target of InfoWars, who has preached black separatism and referred to Jews as “termites.”

Photo:Webshot.