Facebook bans white nationalists in abrupt policy shift

People who search for white supremacy terms on Facebook and Instagram will be directed to resources focused on helping people leave behind hate groups

A man holds up a sign during a protest against racism gathered in front of the White House, on 14 August, 2017 (Getty Images)

Facebook has announced a ban white nationalism and white separatism from its platforms, in a major policy shift for the internet giant.

Any praise, support and representation of the far-right principles on Facebook and Instagram will be banned from next week.

“It’s clear that these concepts are deeply linked to organised hate groups and have no place on our services,” Facebook said in a blog post announcing the policy change.

A ban on white supremacists was already in force, though nationalism and separatism had been allowed as they can be linked to patriotism and other concepts that can be important to people’s identity.

Facebook said the policy change came after conversations with academics and other experts in race relations, who confirmed that white nationalism and white separatism cannot be meaningfully separated from white supremacy and organised hate groups.

Our own review of hate figures and organisations – as defined by our Dangerous Individuals and Organisations policy – further revealed the overlap between white nationalism and separatism and white supremacy,” Facebook wrote.

“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 separatism.”

As part of its efforts to find and remove hate from its platforms, Facebook will also start connecting people who search for terms associated with white supremacy, such as “heil hitler”, to resources focused on helping people leave behind hate groups.

Anyone searching for these terms will instead be directed to the non-profit organisation Life After Hate, which offers crisis intervention, education and support groups for people.

“There will always be people who try to game our systems to spread hate. Our challenge is to stay ahead by continuing to improve our technologies, evolve our policies and work with experts who can bolster our own efforts,” Facebook wrote.

“We are deeply committed and will share updates as this process moves forward.”