Tech

Report: Facebook’s Biggest Black Lives Matter Page Is A Hoax

Black Lives Matter Getty Images/DANIEL LEAL-OLIVA

Amber Athey Podcast Columnist
Font Size:

The biggest Black Lives Matter page on Facebook was a fake account with ties to a middle-aged white man in Australia, according to a new report.

CNN reported Monday that the “Black Lives Matter” page with nearly 700,000 followers was transferring fundraised dollars to Australian bank accounts and had links to various accounts and websites run by an Australian man.

Facebook only suspended the page after multiple inquiries from CNN, even though Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, said she had warned Facebook that the page was a scam months ago.

The “Black Lives Matter” page repeatedly linked to websites run by Ian Mackay, an official for the National Union of Workers in Australia.

“A few days after Mackay registered blackpowerfist.com, an anonymous Facebook profile under the name ‘BP Parker’ shared a link to the website. This same profile was an administrator of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ Facebook page until the page was suspended, a Facebook spokesperson has told CNN,” CNN tech reporter Donie O’Sullivan explained.

Sources also told CNN that the page had raised about $100,000 through donations and fundraisers, some of which went to an account tied to Mackay by name.

Follow Amber on Twitter