Facebook still spreads militia info, report finds
Company also accused of pushing objectionable content to users
After its repeated promise to crack down on “militarized social movements,” Facebook is continuing to allow far-right militia content to proliferate, a new report alleges.
The report from the Tech Transparency Project came Wednesday, a day before Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was to testify before Congress in a hearing the House Committee on Energy & Commerce has titled “Social Media’s Role in Promoting Extremism and Misinformation.”
The tech-watchdog group concluded earlier that in the year leading up to the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington, D.C., “Facebook allowed domestic extremists to discuss weapons and tactics, coordinate activities, and spread calls to overthrow the government for months leading up to and including the mob attack on the Capitol.”
This week’s report found that although Facebook several times since August has pledged that it is taking action against militia organizing, including by shutting down tens of thousands of pages, groups, events and profiles associated with militias and “militarized social movements,” the Menlo Park social media giant is “not only continuing to host potentially dangerous militia groups, but in some cases actually creating militia content and pushing it to users through its recommendation algorithm.”
Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg told Reuters in January that the Capitol insurrection was largely organized on platforms other than Facebook.
The Tech Transparency Project said that as of March 18, there were 201 militia pages, roughly 70% of them with “militia” in their names, plus 13 militia Facebook groups.
“Facebook is auto-generating pages for some militia organizations, effectively expanding the reach of the movement,” the group reported. “Facebook also directs users who ‘like’ certain militia pages toward other militia groups, helping these organizations potentially recruit and radicalize users.”
The watchdog group also said it had found that Facebook militia groups were “circulating propaganda for the far-right Proud Boys, whose members have been charged in the Capitol riot,” and that it also found logos for the “Three Percenters,” an anti-government militia group linked to the insurrection.