Facebook bans Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, Laura Loomer, Louis Farrakhan, as 'dangerous'

Gosh, it only took 'em 4 whole years

Facebook says it has banned accounts for Infowars, Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, Laura Loomer, Louis Farrakhan, and others from both Facebook and Instagram, citing its “dangerous individuals and organizations” policy.

Some accounts are still up, however, at the time of the coordinated, multi-publication, embargoed news release. The ban apparently hasn't fully gone into effect as of 1130am PT, and Milo even posted something to Instagram mocking the news, and promoting his email newsletter.

Facebook says it didn't just ban these accounts.

Facebook promises to remove, for instance, Alex Jones and Infowars content posted by any other accounts, too.

If you post Infowars or Alex Jones content too many times, you will be banned.

Facebook could sure use some good PR, and this smells like a very thirsty attempt to be seen Doing Something Right For A Change.

But this is long overdue on Facebook's part, and a move that will likely have negative financial consequences for those banned.

From Casey Newton at The Verge:

Facebook today removed Louis Farrakhan, Alex Jones, Paul Nehlen, Milo Yiannopoulos, Paul Joseph Watson, Laura Loomer, and Infowars from Facebook and Instagram, saying their accounts violated its policies against dangerous individuals and organizations. They will be prohibited from creating new accounts, although Facebook and Instagram users will continue to be able to create posts praising them and their viewpoints, the company said.

“We’ve always banned individuals or organizations that promote or engage in violence and hate, regardless of ideology,” the company said in a statement. “The process for evaluating potential violators is extensive and it is what led us to our decision to remove these accounts today.”

Infowars founder Jones was suspended from Facebook last year under rules against bullying and hate speech. In February, the company removed another 22 pages associated with him and his businesses. Jones has continuously promoted fringe conspiracy theories, including baseless arguments that the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre never happened. His followers have stalked and harassed families of the victims, requiring them to move frequently and live in hiding.

Watson is an editor at Infowars and associate of Jones. Farrakhan is the leader of the Nation of Islam and is known for making inflammatory anti-Semitic and homophobic remarks. Nehlen is a white supremacist politician who had previously been banned from Twitter. Yiannopoulos is a far-right provocateur who was banned from Twitter after inspiring a wave of racist abuse. Loomer is a far-right activist who recently called Islam “a cancer on humanity” on her Instagram story. (Instagram removed the post.)

Facebook bans Alex Jones and Laura Loomer for violating its policies against dangerous individuals


Observations from Twitter, below.