Facebook bans white nationalist, separatism content after New Zealand mosque attacks

MENLO PARK, Silicon Valley – Facebook has announced to finally ban "praise, support and representation of white nationalism and white separatism" from its platform, as well as from Instagram.

Previously, the social giant had banned “white supremacy”, but not white nationalism or white separatism. Now, the company is taking a harsher stance, saying that “white nationalism and separatism cannot be meaningfully separated from white supremacy and organized hate groups.”

In a press release, Facebook acknowledged that there is no "meaningful way" for these ideas to be separated from white supremacy and organized hate groups, and will treat them with the same due diligence from this point forward.

"We didn't originally apply the same rationale to expressions of white nationalism and white separatism because we were thinking about broader concepts of nationalism and separatism," Facebook wrote, adding, "things like American pride and Basque separatism, which are an important part of people's identity." After detailing that it consulted with experts in race relations in coming to this decision, the release stated, "Going forward, while people will still be able to demonstrate pride in their ethnic heritage, we will not tolerate praise or support for white nationalism and white separatism."

The California-based company will also direct users who try post content associated with white nationalistic ideologies to a nonprofit, Life After Hate, that helps people leave hate groups. The company’s actions are being lauded as a positive step by civil rights groups who have been active on the issue.

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This major change comes nearly two weeks after the mass-shooting at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand. The shooter, who self-identified as a fascist and ethnonationalist, shared an 87-page manifesto of his hateful rhetoric and live-streamed the killing of 50 Muslim worshippers to Facebook.

The footage, despite efforts to the contrary, remained viewable on multiple platforms for hours after its posting.
Starting next week, Facebook and Instagram will ban "praise, support and representation of white nationalism and separatism," saying "it's clear that these concepts are deeply linked to organized hate groups."

YouTube and Twitter both say their user agreements also prohibit violent and hateful content.