- President Donald Trump retweeted a number of far-right activists and figures on Saturday morning in a rage over Facebook’s recent efforts to clamp down on hate speech.
- Facebook banned Alex Jones, Infowars, Milo Yiannopoulos, Paul Joseph Watson, Laura Loomer, and Paul Nehlen, as well as Louis Farrakhan.
- Figures like Farrakhan and Jones are fairly well-known, but some of the people on Trump’s radar have received less mainstream attention despite having massive platforms.
President Donald Trump spent a good portion of his Saturday morning retweeting provocative far-right figures and activists, some of whom have recently been banned from Facebook for their incendiary and often conspiratorial views.
Prior to his retweet-spree, Trump had raged over the move in a tweet on Friday, stating, “I am continuing to monitor the censorship of AMERICAN CITIZENS on social media platforms. This is the United States of America – and we have what’s known as FREEDOM OF SPEECH! We are monitoring and watching, closely!!”
Facebook banned Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, Paul Joseph Watson, Laura Loomer, and Paul Nehlen, citing their policy against “individuals or organisations that promote or engage in violence and hate.” InfoWars, Jones’ online network, was also banned.
Additionally, the social media platform banned Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the religious group Nation of Islam who has espoused anti-Semitic, misogynistic, and homophobic views. Farrakhan is not associated with the far-right, and has been linked to Democratic politicians, but is widely viewed as an extremist in his own right.
Figures like Farrakhan and Jones are fairly well known and have received significant media coverage over the years. Here are the controversial figures on Trump’s radar you might not know that have massive followings and growing influence.
Read the article by John Haltiwanger in Business Insider Australia.