Anarchist Activists Say Facebook Banned Them to Placate the Right
Michael Dwyer For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis, the election, and more, subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter.Last month, Facebook finally made an announcement that it had been teasing for weeks. The company said that it would begin taking more aggressive measures targeting QAnon and US-based militia, two groups that have increasingly posed…
A California State Senator Introduced a Bill Pushing LGBTQ Equality—and a QAnon Mob Came for Him
AP/Rich Pedroncelli For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones’ newsletters.Scott Wiener is used to being targeted for his legislation. The California State Senator represents San Francisco, and has long championed the kind of progressive reforms that have attracted the ire of right-wing culture warriors and their online trolling. Over…
355 Days After He Was Detained, and Weeks After Recovering From COVID-19, a DACA Poster Child Is Released
Mother Jones illustration; courtesy of Sylvia Baldenegro For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones’ newsletters.On Tuesday night, less than two weeks after I wrote about Carlos Martinez, a literal poster child for DACA who had spent the last 11 months at the Eloy Detention Center—where he lost DACA and fell…
Nazis Put This Symbol on Political Opponents’ Arms. Now Trump is Using It.
Facebook screenshot For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones’ newsletters.The first result for a Google search of “upside down red triangle” is a Wikipedia page detailing Nazi concentration camp badges. Google’s official “knowledge panel” reiterates this, linking the same Wikipedia page. The results on the rest of the first…
Facebook Just Revealed Its Secret Strategy for Taking Down Hate Groups
Josh Edelson/ZUMA Wire For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones’ newsletters.The members of Northwest Front have been called the “worst racists” in America, amid stiff competition. On Wednesday, Facebook told Mother Jones that it had used a new enforcement strategy to take down a network of Northwest Front accounts…
Another Day, Another Meme to Debunk: Vaccines for the Bovine Coronavirus Will Not Cure COVID-19
During any big news event, Facebook becomes even more of a pit of toxic disinformation than it is on a relatively normal day. That said, there is one particular meme that I saw pop up a few times recently and I can’t stop thinking about it. (Some context about my feed: I am from rural…