Whack-a-Mole
Less than a day after Facebook banned the far-right conspiracy website InfoWars, the site had created a new account, according to CNBC — a signal that banning extremist content will be more of a game of whack-a-mole than a one-time decision by social platforms.
Jones reappeared on Facebook with a page titled “InfoWars is Back,” and immediately hopped on a livestream to decry the ban. But his new page didn’t last, either — the page disappeared after CNBC reached out to Facebook.
A Losing Battle
It’s not the first time Facebook has removed pages associated with InfoWars. Alex Jones was hit with a 30-day suspension in July 2018 and had to remove 22 more in February of this year.
“We’ve always banned individuals or organizations that promote or engage in violence and hate, regardless of ideology,” Facebook said in a statement, as quoted by The Verge yesterday. “The process for evaluating potential violators is extensive and it is what led us to our decision to remove these accounts today.”
The takeaway: After years of struggling to deal with hate speech on its platform, Facebook has yet to find a more permanent solution.
READ MORE: Alex Jones was banned from Facebook, but an hour later he was back on Facebook livestreaming [CNBC]
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