Facebook Bans Britain First and Its Leaders

Facebook Bans Britain First and Its Leaders

Facebook has removed the official page of far-right group Britain First, along with those of party leader Paul Golding and deputy leader Jayda Fransen. In a statement, Facebook said content posted on the Britain First page and on the pages of Golding and Fransen ‘repeatedly’ broke the site’s guidelines.

Pages are not removed just because some people don’t like them, the social media site added. Both leaders were jailed for anti-Muslim harassment earlier this month. Golding and Fransen were found guilty the hate crime last year after they branded Muslims as paedophiles and rapists.

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Both were sent to prison for 18 weeks and 36 weeks respectively at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court. Facebook said they had continued to violate its rules despite issuing written final warnings over their conduct.

‘Content posted on the Britain First Facebook page and the pages of party leaders Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen has repeatedly broken our Community Standards,’ Facebook said.

‘We recently gave the administrators of the pages a written final warning, and they have continued to post content that violates our Community Standards.

‘As a result, in accordance with our policies, we have now removed the official Britain First Facebook page and the pages of the two leaders with immediate effect.

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‘We do not do this lightly, but they have repeatedly posted content designed to incite animosity and hatred against minority groups, which disqualifies the Pages from our service.’