Now, just over a month later, we have a better idea at how many takedowns have actually happened as a result of the policy. Brian Fishman, Director of Counterterrorism and Dangerous Organizations at Facebook, said the company had identified more than 300 organizations, and taken down thousands of pages and groups as a result of the updated rules. Fishman didn’t disclose exactly which groups the takedowns were associated with.
I know folks are also curious about the new Militarized Social Movements policy announced on Aug 19. Bottom line: we’ve identified more than 300 groups under this policy and removed more than 6500 Groups/Pages btw 8/19 and 9/15.
— Brian Fishman (@brianfishman) September 30, 2020
The policy came under scrutiny last month after Facebook failed to remove an event page that called for an armed response to protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, despite several users reporting it. Mark Zuckerberg later called it an “operational mistake.”
Fishman also detailed Facebook’s actions against the far-right extremist group Proud Boys, after the group got renewed attention following Donald Trump’s comments during the presidential debate. He said Facebook had seen “an uptick” in memes and other content related to the Proud Boys, but said “much of this content” was condemning the group and Trump’s remarks. Facebook banned the Proud Boys in 2018, and has recently taken down other accounts associated with it, Fishman said.