Hundreds Of Far-Right Militias Are Still Organizing, Recruiting, And Promoting Violence On Facebook

[Nevilledog]

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Jared Holt
@jaredlholt
Far-Right Militias Are Recruiting On Facebook, Report Finds

Hundreds Of Far-Right Militias Are Still Organizing, Recruiting, And Promoting Violence On Facebook
A new report identified more than 200 militia pages and groups on Facebook as of March 18, more than two months after the insurrection at the Capitol.
buzzfeednews.com
12:26 PM · Mar 24, 2021

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/christopherm51/far-right-militias-facebook-recruiting-report

When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faces Congress on Thursday, to testify about extremism online, he will do so as hundreds of far-right militias, including some whose members were charged in the deadly insurrection on the US Capitol, continue to organize, recruit, and promote violence on the platform.

More than 200 militia pages and groups were on Facebook as of March 18, according to a new report published Wednesday by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), a nonprofit watchdog organization, and additional research by BuzzFeed News. Of them, at least 140 included the word “militia” in their name.

Facebook banned some militant groups and other extremist movements tied to violence last August, after the FBI warned that such groups had become domestic terrorism threats.

TPP found that Facebook is automatically creating pages for some of the militias from content that people are sharing, expanding the reach of the groups. This is not a new problem for the site, which in 2019 came under criticism for automatically generating pages for ISIS. In addition, BuzzFeed News and TTP found that the platform was directing people who “like” certain militia pages to check out others, effectively helping these movements recruit and radicalize new members.

Many of the groups analyzed by BuzzFeed News and TTP shared images of guns and violence. Some posted anti-government messages in support of the mob inspired by former President Donald Trump that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6. Others shared misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic and racist memes targeting Black Lives Matter activists.

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[Claire Oh Nette]

1. Please stop callling them militias.

Militias have organizational responsibility to some form of government: The National Guard reports to the Governors. The US Military Reports to the President.

These are armed white gangs of militant extremists. What they are for is anybody's guess, outside violence for violence sake, and white male dominion over whatever he sees. They report to no government/civilian authority, they meet no qualifications, they devise their own training (ask Cawthorn, NC-11, who's buddy owns a proud boy training camp in deep WNC), and they seek rule by brute force and intimidation. No body asked them to serve as an at-ready force. We don't need minute men. They took it upon themselves to play soldier, and now, they're off the couch and out of the woods and in my Capitol.

They are terrorists, not militias. They are no different from the truck driving, one flag is good so five must be better, ISIS/Al Queda Insurgents and insurrectionists in all those Middle Eastern countries they hate but can't find on a map. Armed white gangs of anti-democracy terrorists.

Not a male property owner? then the Founders didn't want you to vote, but they devised a mechanism to create a more perfect union. We are not going backwards. Sorry. You should have been nicer to the rest of us all along, and you wouldn't be pissing yourself that we might treat you like you've treated us.

Imagine any other ethnic or gender group doing this. Imagine if the Women's March preached "Hatriotism." Imagine armed militant gays, lesbians, and trangenders marching on the Capitol and driving GOP campaign buses off the road. Black people don't have to imagine, because if they armed themselves and carried in public, they'd be dead. Even if they didn't arm themselves, but were just Black in Public. Or eating skittles and iced tea. Or 12, with a squirt gun. If it wouldn't get them killed, I'd love to see militant Black people out there protecting the vote--like when Reagan was Governor of California and passed gun control legislation....

[TwilightZone]

2. They've been called militias for decades.

That horse has left the barn.

[SheltieLover]

4. +1,000!

[Initech]

3. Really is there any difference between ISIS and the Oath Keepers or Proud Boys?