Far-right leader banned from Facebook for hate posts
FAR-RIGHT anti-muslim activist Tommy Robinson has had his official Facebook page and Instagram profile removed because he has posted “in ways that violate our policies around organised hate”, said the social network.
Facebook said Robinson’s page had “repeatedly broken these standards, posting material that uses dehumanising language and calls for violence targeted at Muslims”.
Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-lennon, had amassed more than one million followers on Facebook.
Robinson, 36, said: “When putting me in prison and trying to kill me hasn’t worked, when then trying to get mainstream documentaries to destroy my name with false allegations, that hasn’t worked. Now, the establishment has gone for the plan of completely removing me from the public sphere.”
Emails and tweets from Robinson were used as evidence in the trial of Darren Osborne, who was convicted of murder for driving a van into worshippers outside two mosques in London, to show his path of “radicalisation” before committing the attack in June 2017.
The EX-EDL leader’s support boomed in 2018 after he was jailed for contempt of court for filming outside the trial of men later convicted of sexual abuse which was the subject of reporting restrictions.
Far-right groups from around the world rallied around his cause, funding and organising rallies plagued by violence and describing his imprisonment as an issue of free speech.
He was released on procedural grounds in August and his case was referred to the attorney-general for review in October before he was named an adviser to Ukip one month later.
In a statement, Facebook said: “One of the biggest questions we face is around what we allow on Facebook – and we spend a lot of time trying to get this right. This is hard and critically important. We want Facebook to be a place where you can express yourself freely and share openly with friends and family. At the same time, when people come to Facebook we always want them to feel welcome and safe. This is something we take incredibly seriously. So when ideas and opinions cross the line, we take action.”
Robinson has served at least three separate custodial sentences. In 2005 he assaulted an off-duty police officer who intervened to protect a woman Robinson was attacking. In 2012 he was jailed for using false travel documents, ie someone else’s passport, to try to enter the United States, and in 2014 he was jailed for 18 months for mortgage fraud.