Facebook removes 190 accounts affiliated with hate groups

Facebook has removed about 190 accounts in the United States associated with so-called “white supremacy” groups. The groups are said to have called for armed or unarmed protests in the US.

According to the Associated Press, about 190 accounts on Facebook and Instagram are affiliated with the groups Proud Boys and American Guard. Facebook considers these hate groups and bans them from its platform.

Facebook moderators have been eyeing the now-deleted accounts for some time to be able to remove them if they called for protests taking place in the US over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. In some cases, this would involve calls for armed participation, reports Brian Fishman, who discusses Facebook’s policy on organizations that consider the platform dangerous.

American social platforms are extra vigilant about hate speech because of the protests in the United States. Last week, Twitter deleted accounts masquerading as Antifa accounts that called for violence at the protests, but which in reality were allegedly set up by far-right groups. NBC News wrote about that.