Facebook bans anti-US network Boogaloo, fears backlash

San Francisco, July 1 (IANS) Facebook has removed a network of accounts, Groups and Pages related to a US-based anti-government network called Boogaloo.

Calling it a violent organization, the social network said it has banned the network from its platform and will remove content praising, supporting or representing it.

The company removed 220 Facebook accounts, 95 Instagram accounts, 28 Pages and 106 groups that were associated with the network.

"We have also removed over 400 additional groups and over 100 other Pages for violating our Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy as they hosted similar content as the violent network we disrupted but were maintained by accounts outside of it," Facebook said in a statement late Tuesday.

This network uses the term Boogaloo but is distinct from the broader and loosely-affiliated Boogaloo movement because it actively seeks to commit violence.

"This network appears to be based across various locations in the US, and the people within it engage with one another on our platform. It is actively promoting violence against civilians, law enforcement and government officials and institutions," informed Facebook.

Members of this network seek to recruit others within the broader Boogaloo movement, sharing the same content online and adopting the same offline appearance as others in the movement to do so.

The term Boogaloo has been adopted by a range of anti-government activists who generally believe civil conflict in the US is inevitable.

Some people who participated at the Gun Rights Rally that took place in Richmond, Virginia, on January 20 this year wore the outfit now typical for Boogaloo adherents.

"We expect to see adversarial behaviour from this network including people trying to return to using our platform and adopting new terminology. We are committed to reviewing accounts, Groups, and Pages, including ones currently on Facebook, against our Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy," said Facebook.

The company said it has removed over 800 posts for violating its Violence and Incitement policy over the last two months.

--IANS

na/