Facebook has moved to ban white nationalists and separatist content from the social networking app. This comes in the wake of the Christchurch killing. A white supremacist killed 50 people in a mosque in New Zealand on Friday, 15th March 2019.

The killer filmed the entire incident live on Facebook in a video that later went viral. It took extreme pro-active measures to control the spread of the content on social media. Facebook, Reddit and YouTube finally got the content under control after a few days.

On 28th March 2019, Facebook took a drastic measure in shifting its policy. It will place a ban on white extremists’ content on the platform.

Facebook said in a blog post that the ban will be effective from April 2019. They will ban any “praise, support, and representation of white nationalism and separatism.” They mentioned the concepts’ deep link to organised hate groups, banning them from operating using their services.

The social networking had prohibited white supremacist content for a while. They had also banned racist and hateful content from the platform. However, in the new development, they have included white nationalism and separatism. This includes phrases like “immigration is tearing this country apart” and “white separatism is the only answer”.

Anyone found searching for racist content or phrases on the platform will be directed to the Life After Hate organisation for support and educational resources.

Members of Facebook’s Content Standards Forum collectively agreed on the new policy.