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As protests + calls from Trump + the far-Right to criminalize antifascism continue, today Facebook banned a variety of anarchist, antifascist + anti-capitalist pages, including news platforms like ours + @crimethinc + grassroots groups. A thread. https://itsgoingdown.org/on-facebook-banning-anarchist-and-antifascist-pages-the-digital-censorship-to-come/
Today's move by Facebook has nothing to do with stopping violence and everything to do with cracking down on social movements and everyday people getting organized in their communities.
Facebook has always promoted itself as a friend to grassroots change; Facebook representatives proudly touted their role in the Egyptian uprising. Yet their decision to ban platforms that even report on social movements shows that they take direction from the State.
For months, Donald Trump has demanded this crackdown in a series of social media posts explicitly blaming anarchists and anti-fascists for the countrywide wave of protests precipitated by persistent police violence in the United States.
This call has been echoed by a parade of far-Right grifters and racist conspiracy peddlers, who recently testified on capitol hill about "protest violence," singling out platforms like IGD and @crimethinc. https://theintercept.com/2020/08/05/ted-cruz-hearing-antifa/
The way Facebook defines violence, it is legitimate for police to kill over 1K per year while evicting, kidnapping, and imprisoning millions—it is legitimate to drop bombs on civilians, so long as the aggressor represents an official government.
In today's world, the State itself survives + justifies its own authority through the mass spread online of literal fake news, conspiracy theories, and promotion of cults of personality. Much of this being animated by a hatred and push for violence against 'the Left.'
Make no mistake, suppressing the voices of those who seek to protect their communities from institutional and white supremacist violence is an intentional decision to normalize violence as long as the ones employing it hold institutional power - or support those who do.
Facebook's move to lump together far-Right militias - linked to actual attacks on human beings - with anarchists and antifascists mirrors the same push by the State to do the same - along with lumping #BlackLivesMatter 
together with neo-Nazis as "racially motivated extremists."
together with neo-Nazis as "racially motivated extremists."
This line of thinking continues to equate protest disruption and property destruction with far-Right movements who fundamentally want to harm and kill large segments of the public. https://www.businessinsider.com/right-wing-extremists-kill-329-since-1994-antifa-killed-none-2020-7
Thus, unlike the push to remove the Alt-Right post-Charlottesville which largely came from below or from companies hoping to abscond themselves - this push comes from above.
It is not a coincidence that it occurs after Trump mobilized federal forces to Portland, precipitating weeks of street conflict. While far-right groups continue to organize on Facebook and millions spread dangerous misinformation about COVID-19.
While we ultimately aren't surprised by this move and personally all hate Facebook (majority of feedback we got was ironically death threats) we recognize it was a vehicle to connect with people. If you want to help us continue our media work, donate: https://itsgoingdown.org/shop/
