NAACP Rebukes Facebook For Failing To Stem Militia Posts

BALTIMORE, MD
The National NAACP continues to call out Facebook’s failure to extinguish the self-proclaimed militia groups organizing on its platform, including a group called the Kenosha Guard. According to the national civil rights group, the lack of policies and enforcement by Facebook is contributing to the growing tide of hate groups on its platform as white supremacists and racists post hate-filled disinformation about the state of events taking place in this country.

“Facebook has made it abundantly clear that it has no interest in protecting the public in which it serves, nor does it seek to be proactive in its stance against hate groups,” notes a press release on August 31.

“Time and again, Mark Zuckerberg and the Facebook team have missed critical opportunities to adopt safety measures and take necessary precautions to ensure online rhetoric does not lead to unprovoked attacks. Facebook has failed, once again, in its charge to be a good steward of the public’s trust in its platform.”

The release comes days after leading national racial justice organizational leaders issued a joint statement addressing armed white militia violence and police camaraderie with militia members surrounding the killing of two protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin by allegedly a 17-year-old militia sympathizer from out of state.

“The world is at an inflection point, and Facebook has only continued to put forth veiled apologies for its role in spurring the life-threatening climate on and off its platform. These apologies are meant to protect profits over people. Facebook must recognize the severity of where we are as a nation and rise to meet the demands of the moment. If it does not, we will continue to see violence and injustice move within the silos of the platform until there is an explosion of violence at the hands of extremists, once again.”

The racial justice organizations cited videos showing Kenosha Police Department Officers exhibiting camaraderie toward militia members – who were out in violation of the curfew before the shootings — and also seemingly ignoring protesters who tried to identify the shooter in this incident. 

“Police solidarity with white militia members is abhorrent and intolerable – and it represents a highly dangerous threat to the lives and rights of people of color.”

You can learn more about these developments by visiting, naacp.org.