- Facebook said it is banning several prominent conspiracy theorists from its social network.
- The company said the move was in line with its rules prohibiting organizations or individuals that promote violence or hate.
- The move follows criticism that Facebook’s platform has allowed the spread of misinformation and hate speech.
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Facebook is taking action against a number of far-right figures and conspiracy theorists, responding to longstanding criticism that its social network has helped spread misinformation and hate speech.
On Thursday, Facebook announced that it was banning Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, Paul Joseph Watson, and Laura Loomer, as well as Louis Farrakhan, and conspiracy theory website Infowars. (Disclosure: In 2014, this author wrote some freelance articles for The Kernel, a website owned by Milo Yiannopoulos at the time.)
In a statement, a Facebook spokesperson said: "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."
An hour after the announcement, some of these accounts remained available on the website. Facebook has been criticized over the proliferation of hate speech and misinformation on its platform for years.
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Source: Business Insider – rprice@businessinsider.com (Rob Price)