- Facebook will take strong measures against trump supporters.
- The platform will remove ‘Stop the Steal’ groups.
- Many social media platforms actively remove violating posts.
In the aftermath of last week’s aggression in the U.S. Capitol, Facebook is taking strong measures. Today the company confirmed that it would be taking further action on this matter. It will delete posts referencing the term “stop the steal” on its website. The term is related to the right-wing movement that wrongly argues that the U.S. democratic elections have been rigged. The group is trying to hold Trump in power by all possible means, including a violent rebellion.
Facebook removed some of the initial ‘Stop the Steal’ groups in November. The social media platform will continue to delete such sites, groups, and activities. Facebook is strictly following its guidelines regarding the breach of its policies, including calls for abuse.
However, as Facebook would have you believe, the cleaning campaign was not as widespread or as continuous. Many active Facebook groups are still simply named “stop the steal, as of the moment of writing. Facebook says its decision to take this further step is linked to the increasing calls for violence in the United States.
Facebook’s Announcement:
Facebook VP of Honesty, Guy Rosen, and Monika Bickert, VP of Global Policy Management, recently released a statement.
“We have been enabling robust conversations related to the election result, and that will continue.” “But with ongoing attempts to organize events against the outcome of the U.S. presidential election that can lead to violence, and the use of the term by those involved in D.C. violence on Wednesday, we are taking this extra step in the lead up to the inauguration.”
The company wishes to distinguish itself from being considered one of the outlets used by the U.S. Riot organizers. In fact, in an interview with Reuters on Monday, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said that the riot was ‘broadly coordinated’ on other internet services and not on Facebook. She said Facebook had taken down material from fringe groups, such as QAnon, as well as groups such as Proud Boys and Stop the Steal, and everything that spoke of aggression.
Facebook is not the only mainstream social network that actively removes material that violates its terms. This is because more permissive social media practices have already culminated in violent demonstrations and a coup attempt, as well as the deaths of people.
