Facebook removes almost 200 accounts linked to hate groups

Facebook has removed nearly 200 accounts that were linked to hate groups and white supremacy groups, as reported by the Associated Press.

The social media giant removed accounts that planned to encourage their members to attend gatherings that are protesting racism and police brutality following the death of George Floyd. In some cases, the groups encouraged their members to attend the protests with weapons.

The accounts were tied to the Proud Boys and the American Guard, two hate groups that are already banned on the platform. The accounts were being monitored once officials saw that they were posting about the protests.

“We saw that these groups were planning to rally supporters and members to physically go to the protests and in some cases were preparing to go with weapons,” Brian Fishman, Facebook’s director of counterterrorism and dangerous organizations policy, told the Associated Press.

The company did not provide any more details about the accounts, such as their plans for the protests, but stated that approximately 190 accounts had been removed.

This comes a few days after Facebook announced that it removed several accounts created by white supremacists, who were posing on Twitter as part of the antifa movement.

Facebook has also recently issued new recommendations to discuss “race and social issues” in groups on its platform. The social media giant suggests that groups should have administrators and moderators with diverse voices.

Source: The Associated Press, Facebook