Zuckerberg Pledges To Remove Violent Threats From Facebook After Charlottesville

Facebook joins the tech firm taking action against white nationalists and neo-Nazis social media accounts.

The CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg has said his company will be ‘watching closely’ and will ‘take down threats of physical harm’, becoming the latest tech firm to take action against white nationalists and neo-Nazis social media accounts.

Zuckerberg claims that Facebook is doing everything it can to be a place where everyone can share their ideas, and also feel safe.

“There is no place for hate in our community,” Zuckerberg writes. “That’s why we’ve always taken down any post that promotes or celebrates hate crimes or acts of terrorism – including what happened in Charlottesville. With the potential for more rallies, we’re watching the situation closely and will take down threats of physical harm.”

Mark Zuckerberg’s response to Charlottesville came later than most other tech firms, but has been widely welcomed.

An impossible task?

But, and there is a but, Facebook and other technology companies have always had stringent policies against hate speech and violent threats. Facebook in particular has come in for severe criticism over the years for the slow speed with which it has removed controversial content.

“When someone tries to silence others or attacks them based on who they are or what they believe, that hurts us all and is unacceptable,” he said. The new renewed pledge by Zuckerberg at least indicates that Facebook will is beginning to respond more proactively to the issues of hate and threats of violence. He added: “We won’t always be perfect, but you have my commitment that we’ll keep working to make Facebook a place where everyone can feel safe.”

Trump’s trumpet trumped

Zuckerberg also appeared to reference Donald Trump’s apparent positive equivocation on the question of whether the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, and white supremacists are condemnable. While not mentioning the embattled US president by name, he seemed incredulous of the words spoken by the leader of the free world: “It’s a disgrace that we still need to say that neo-Nazis and white supremacists are wrong,” he wrote, “as if this is somehow not obvious.”

Zuckerberg’s message, which came four days after the “Unite the Right” that rally left counter-protestor Heather Heyes dead and many others injured, arrived later than some other prominent chief executives.