Thread by @TTP_updates

NEW: For months, TTP has investigated the boogaloo movement on Facebook and the company's efforts to combat it

Facebook's the company’s slow and ineffective response has allowed the movement to persist on its platform. Here's what we found

[THREAD]
techtransparencyproject.org/articles/faceb…

TTP first warned about Facebook boogaloo groups in April, documenting how members were using them to organize for a coming civil war and share tactics and bomb manuals.

techtransparencyproject.org/articles/extre…

Following TTP’s April report, Facebook told Huff Post @letsgomathias it had taken down groups and pages that use “boogaloo” and related terms and would “enforce against any violations.”

huffpost.com/entry/boogaloo…

But in May and June, multiple boogaloo supporters were arrested in Vegas and California plotting or engaging in real-world violence, the commonality between all of them was their membership in Facebook groups.

FB had not adequately addressed the problem. techtransparencyproject.org/articles/membe…

Facebook’s spotty track record in removing these extremists, despite intense media attention on the issue and pressure from lawmakers, provides a window into Facebook’s deeper dysfunction policing its platform for things like hate speech and misinfo.

techtransparencyproject.org/articles/faceb…

TTP identified 110 new Facebook boogaloo groups that were created since June 30, when Facebook announced it was banning a “violent” boogaloo network. At least 18 of the groups were created on the same day as Facebook’s announcement and network removal

Many boogaloo groups have easily evaded Facebook’s crackdown by rebranding themselves, often co-opting the names of children’s movies, news organizations and even Mark Zuckerberg. Some of the newer groups already have more than 1,000 members.

Material on bomb-making and other violent activity is continuing to circulate across boogaloo groups on Facebook. The content includes a Google Drive folder that contains dozens of instruction manuals for bomb making, kidnapping, and murder.

Despite Facebook’s promise to stop recommending boogaloo groups to users, the company’s algorithms continue to suggest boogaloo-related groups and pages, even when they don’t use the word “boogaloo” in their names.

In addition to the 110 new groups since June 30 - TTP also found that 39 of the 125 boogaloo groups ID'd in its April report are still active on Facebook

In total, TTP identified ~150 boogaloo groups on Facebook

That’s roughly 20% more than TTP had identified in April.

The @ADL has also written about the boogaloo movement’s adoption of media names on Facebook. After ADL’s article on the subject appeared online, boogaloo supporters created new Facebook groups mockingly named after ADL itself.

adl.org/blog/boogaloo-…

Facebook not only failed to stop recommending boogaloo groups as it had claimed - the company had also told @darakerr that it would remove any praise of the murder and attacks carried out by a boogaloo boy in Oakland.

cnet.com/news/how-booga…

But despite its claims to @darakerr, TTP found that Facebook allowed explicit praise of the Oakland shooter with comments like, “This man is my hero,” and “Kill em all.” Those posts stayed up until Facebook deleted the groups in question on June 30.

Even with Facebook’s focus on “violent” boogaloo supporters, the company should arguably have acted sooner, given that much of the content in question, such as bomb making & praise for terroristic murder, violates FB’s long-established Community Standards

techtransparencyproject.org/articles/faceb…

In a report today Facebook told @VICENews @misstessowen that it has specialists within its 350-person counterterrorism team who focus on tracking a Boogaloo network. But would not say how many, if any, focused exclusively on tracking the Boogaloo movement

vice.com/en_us/article/…