I have a brief thread on the tragic shootings in Kenosha, based on findings from FB’s initial internal investigation. 1/n
Yesterday we designated the shooting as a mass murder and removed the shooter’s accounts from Facebook & Instagram. Per standard practice in these situations, we are also removing praise and support of the shooter and have also blocked searches of his name on our platforms. 2/n
None of the shooter’s accounts were reported by users prior to the shooting. We have found no evidence that suggests the shooter followed the Kenosha Guard Page or that he was invited on the Event Page they organized. 3/n
The Kenosha Guard Page and their Event Page violated our new policy addressing militia organizations and were removed on that basis. 4/n
This policy was launched last week and is currently being enforced by a team of specialists on the Dangerous Orgs Ops team. It’s a new policy and we’re still scaling up enforcement. 5/n
We’ve had too many tragedies like those in Kenosha. Companies like Facebook owe it to everyone to closely examine the influence of online content on such violence--and to take action to stop it. 6/n
I’ve never had any illusions about those realities online--addressing them is what drew me to work for FB in the first place--and I really appreciate the good work by researchers and journalists shedding light on these issues. Will stop there. Stay safe everybody. 7/7
