Facebook has removed a number of high profile far-right figures and organisations from the social media platform permanently.

Those banned today include former Breitbart columnist Milo Yiannopoulos, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his platform Infowars, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, and anti-Islam campaigner Laura Loomer.

“We’ve always banned individuals or organisations that promote or engage in violence and hate, regardless of ideology,” a statement from Facebook reads.

“The process for evaluating potential violators is extensive and it is what led us to our decision to remove these accounts today.”

Yiannopoulos, who was stopped from entering Australia earlier this year, had already been removed from Twitter in 2016 after a racist tirade against Saturday Night Live player Leslie Jones.

While Facebook would not reveal all of the information that led to these bans, the social media giant cited instances where Yiannopoulos and Jones supported Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes – who Facebook had already flagged as a hatemonger.

Facebook also explained that the decision considered the individuals behaviour both offline and online.

OIP Staff