Facebook now removing ‘Stop the Steal’ content after Donald Trump banned

The social media giant has burned through Donald Trump and the QAnon conspiracy that lionises him, and now it has a new target.

Facebook will now remove content alluding to disinformation about a stolen US election, after Joe Biden’s presidential victory was certified last week despite rioters including those who organised “Stop The Steal” rallies on Facebook storming the US Capitol building in an attempt to stop the votes being counted.

The company’s founder Mark Zuckerberg announced last week that Donald Trump’s account would be suspended indefinitely – and at least until after Joe Biden had been inaugurated as the new President of the United States.

Last year the company previously took action against QAnon in the lead up to the election.

“Stop The Steal” was a catchcry for Trump supporters who jumped on a lie being spread by Mr Trump and allies in the Republican Party, many who have now abandoned Mr Trump and disavowed the claim in a rush to condemn the events at the Capitol building that resulted in five deaths and a national moment of reckoning.

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A man holds a ‘Stop The Steal’ sign outside the US Capitol building prior to a group violently storming the building, resulting in five deaths. Picture: Jon Cherry/Getty Images/AFP

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Those events were preceded by a “Stop The Steal” rally attended by Mr Trump and promoted in advance on Facebook, drawing in supporters, including from other states.

As he forecasted that he would months in advance, Mr Trump did not accept the votes of November’s election after it emerged he did not win re-election.

Several attempts to stop votes being certified failed in the courts, and the storming of the US Capitol to stop the certification of votes was ultimately unsuccessful after politicians returned to vote after the Capitol building invaders had been removed.

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The suspended Twitter account of US President Donald Trump appears on an iPhone screen. Picture: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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It wasn’t until after Twitter and Facebook took action against Donald Trump’s ability to post (which the platforms have been facing pressure to do for years) that he conceded that a new administration will be sworn in on January 20 (although he never used the word “concede”, simply describing the inauguration of a new administration).

Many have argued that the recent actions of Facebook and Twitter are too little too late.

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Four years into this mess, let’s not applaud Facebook and Twitter for finally acting against the daily toxic soup of Trump only after a shocking act of treasonous insurrection. They’ve profited from this every day while avoiding accountability. Let’s get real.

— Patrick Gaspard (@patrickgaspard) January 7, 2021

These social media companies made money for years by increasing engagement of their users which translates into advertising revenue. In other words, Facebook and Twitter profited as their AI pushed a narrative that eventually caused the events that occurred in DC on Wednesday.

— Eric Shonebarger (@ShonebargerEric) January 9, 2021

"We profited for years from extremists using our tech to grow a massive, violent, right-wing movement that can no longer be contained - but don't worry, we're putting the bad man in Facebook jail for two weeks." https://t.co/DWEj1MtiNX

— Aamer Rahman (@aamer_rahman) January 8, 2021

Twitter and Facebook get no love for doing something they should have done years ago. These companies profited off disinformation campaigns and extremist rhetoric for YEARS. They're only trying to save face now that we are getting a true glimpse of how much damage they've caused.

— Isaac Orloff (@IsaacOrloff) January 9, 2021

Some people stand up to tyrants, others wait till it's safe to do so https://t.co/8rmBn0OYbJ

— Sarah May (@Sarah_May1) January 8, 2021

For 4 years Facebook has profited and propelled this. Zuckerberg should also be in jail

— norton (@nortonmythos) January 7, 2021

Twitter and Facebook suspending trump with about 10 days left in his term does nothing for me. Too little too late for that.

— Slaydro (@TheTrackMamba) January 8, 2021

To anyone claiming Big Tech wrongfully silenced Trump, consider this: Twitter & Facebook truly tried to offer the public access to an elected official as long as possible. They waited for an extreme instance to remove him. They fought for the free speech you say they've removed.

— Jack Appleby (@JuiceboxCA) January 10, 2021

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After his personal Twitter account was permanently suspended, Mr Trump hit out at the social media giant from the @POTUS account claiming its employees had “coordinated with the Democrats and the Radical Left” to silence him.

The @POTUS account, which will be handed over to Joe Biden after his inauguration, is supposed to be used for the US President’s official statements, not their personal opinions.

Others on social media have stressed the potential implications on free speech, particularly under the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees free speech but only applies to the intervention of government, not businesses like Facebook and Twitter.

Australia doesn’t have a guaranteed right to free speech and Facebook and Twitter are allowed to censor content on their platforms, in fact some of our laws require them to.

Silencing a significant number of voters and erasing history is no way to unite us; it only further divides. Big tech & social media platforms want to act like media orgs but don’t want to be held accountable with the rest of media. Speech should be free whether you agree or not.

— Ben Carson (@SecretaryCarson) January 9, 2021

Strong case of revoking the right to freedom of speech & expression of Donald Trump against Facebook, Instagram & Twitter & subsequently Google. His comments may not be to pleasant but his right to free speech is paramount.

— Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) January 9, 2021

Strong case of revoking the right to freedom of speech & expression of Donald Trump against Facebook, Instagram & Twitter & subsequently Google. His comments may not be to pleasant but his right to free speech is paramount.

— Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) January 9, 2021

Donald Trump accused Twitter of removing him from the platform to ‘silence’ him.

Facebook has announced it is treating the inauguration as a “major civic event” and was looking to prevent the incitement of any further violence.

“We are now removing content containing the phrase ‘stop the steal’ under our co-ordinating Harm policy from Facebook and Instagram,” the social media giant’s vice president of integrity Guy Rosen and vice president of global policy management Monika Bickert said in a blog post.

“We removed the original Stop the Steal group in November and have continued to remove Pages, groups and events that violate any of our policies, including calls for violence,” the pair claimed.

They also said the company had “been allowing robust conversations related to the election outcome and that will continue”.

It’s not clear where the line between “robust conversations” about election outcomes crosses over into denial of the outcomes and incitement of violence and it might be some time before Facebook acts on the new plans.

“It may take some time to scale up our enforcement of this new step but we have already removed a significant number of posts,” Mr Rosen and Ms Bickert wrote.

“We will stay vigilant to additional threats and take further action if necessary to keep people safe and informed,” they added in a joint statement.