Facebook to ban white nationalism

FACEBOOK has banned white nationalism on its services in an expansion of its hate speech rules in the wake of a mosque attack in New Zealand.

The social network said that it would ban “praise, support and representation” of white nationalism and separatism on both Facebook and Instagram, starting from next week.

The decision ends a long battle with civil rights activists, who argued that Facebook’s policies were providing a loophole for neo-nazis and other extremists to organise on its services.

Previously, Facebook drew a distinction between white nationalism, which it defined as calling for the separation of different races, and white supremacy, the belief that whites are superior to other races.

But critics said that the two ideas were almost always intertwined, or even interchangeable, and that “white nationalism” was little more than a PR tactic by white supremacists to escape censure.

“Our policies have long prohibited hateful treatment of people based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity or religion – and that has always included white supremacy,” said the company in a blog post.

“Over the past three months our conversations with members of civil society and academics who are experts in race relations around the world have confirmed that white nationalism and separatism cannot be meaningfully separated from white supremacy and organised hate groups.

“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.”

It comes amid rising concern by Western governments and security experts about far-right terrorism, whose adherents have often used Facebook to find new recruits and coordinate their campaigning.

Civil rights groups welcomed the decision. Rashad Robinson, the president of Colour of Change, said he was “glad to see the company’s leadership take this critical step forward”.