'Dangerous': Facebook Permanently Bans Anti-Semite and Right-Wing Activists from Platform

Facebook announced that it has permanently banned "dangerous individuals and organizations" from its main platform and from Instagram. 

Anti-Semite and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, Infowars founder Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, Laura Loomer, and Paul Joseph Watson are among the high profile figures purged from the platform. 

Facebook says these figures violated the company's policy against hate and violence. 

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

Facebook told CNN that when making its decision, it examines if the person or organization has ever called for violence against people based on ethnicity, race, or nationality, used hate speech, or identifies with a hateful ideology. 

Most of the personalities Facebook deplatformed Thursday are also banned from Twitter. 

Some are happy to see these figures removed from social media. 

"The social media companies not only have the right, but an ethical responsibility to remove disinformation and hate speech and those who spread it from their platforms," Paul Barrett, deputy director of New York University's Stern Center for Business and Human Rights told the Times. 

But critics believe the censorship is dangerous. 

Journalist Tim Pool, who reports on social media censorship, believes Facebook made a mistake. 

"I cannot stress how much of a dramatic escalation this is. I don't care whether you like these people or not this is going to rapidly radicalize many, many people," he said. 

Very weird and the people who got banned of didn't know before it happened.

I cannot stress how much of a dramatic escalation this is.

I don't care whether you like these people or not this is going to rapidly radicalized many many people https://t.co/SMBuMSHfm1

— Tim Pool (@Timcast) May 2, 2019

Economist and political commentator Eric Weinstein says Facebook does not consistently enforce its anti-hate policies. 

"I'm not a free speech absolutist. Nor is the US absolutist. Companies are not the government," he explained. 

"What I oppose here is *simple* statements from Tech Utopians about how they are against *all* Hate, Violence & Misinformation while *selectively* enforcing & profiteering."

The great danger is selective, cryptic & inconsistent rules tilting all discussion. This leads to an appearance of 'conversation' that can sway opinion, elections, civil society etc.

It is a new threat: the *appearance* of a fair & civil public discussion which is really fixed.

— Eric Weinstein (@EricRWeinstein) May 3, 2019

"The great danger is selective, cryptic & inconsistent rules tilting all discussion. This leads to an appearance of 'conversation' that can sway opinion, elections, civil society etc," he said. "It is a new threat: the *appearance* of a fair & civil public discussion which is really fixed."