When people explore for terms related to white supremacy on the social platforms, they’ll be redirected to anti-hate nonprofit.
Weeks after the deadly New Zealand mosque attacks that killed fifty people, Facebook declared the corporate is forbidding white nationalism and white separatism from its platform, reported Motherboard.
In a blog post published Wednesday, the tech company revealed they had conversations with activists and civil rights groups concerning what action to take against hate groups.
“Today we’re announcing a ban on praise, support and representation of white
nationalism and separatism on Facebook and Instagram, which we’ll start enforcing next week,” the corporate wrote in the post. “It’s clear that these concepts are deeply linked to organized hate groups and have no place on our services.”
Since Trump was elected president, Facebook received massive amounts of backlash and
pressure from activism groups to
be more vigilant against hate. Criticism
of the corporate was renewed in the time after the Christchurch shooter used Facebook to
livestream his attacks on 2 mosques.
Starting next week, changes made to the platform now redirects anyone who searches for terms related to white supremacy to a link for Life after Hate, a nonprofit that
helps individuals to leave hate groups, the corporate said.
In a previous Motherboard report, the news
outlet revealed that
Facebook’s user policies did ban white
supremacy, however still
allowed white nationalism and white
separatism to exist on the platform.
“Going forward, whereas people will still be able to demonstrate pride in
their ethnic heritage, we will not
tolerate praise or support for white nationalism and separatism,”
Facebook said in its
post.
Color of Change, an advocacy group motivated to carry technology companies socially accountable, called Facebook’s decision a “critical step forward.”
“Facebook’s update should move Twitter, YouTube, and Amazon to act urgently to stem the expansion of white
nationalist ideologies, which find space on platforms to spread the violent concepts and rhetoric that inspired the tragic attacks witnessed in Charlottesville,
Pittsburgh, and currently Christchurch,” Rashad Robinson, president
of Color of Change, said in a statement to NBC News.
While Twitter has not officially prohibited white nationalism,
their terms and agreements forbid users from affiliating with organizations
that “use or promote violence against civilians” or using “hateful pictures or symbols” in profile
images, reported NBC
News.