It took Facebook nearly a month to remove a video Democratic Pennsylvania state Rep. Brian Sims posted to Facebook in April in which he offered a reward to anyone who would doxx three teenage girls.
Sims filmed himself in front of a southeastern Pennsylvania Planned Parenthood in a live Facebook video posted on April 18, Holy Thursday before Easter weekend. The Pennsylvania state representative approached three teenage girls and filmed them as he encouraged viewers to doxx them. Ashley Garecht had brought her 13 and 15-year-old daughters and their friend to pray in front of the abortion clinic.
“What we’ve got here is a bunch of … pseudo-Christian protesters who’ve been out here shaming young girls for being here,” Sims said in the video, according to Life News. “So, here’s the deal, I’ve got $100 to anybody who will identify these three, and I will donate to Planned Parenthood.”
WATCH:
Garecht told The Daily Caller News Foundation that Sims approached her and her children twice, “yelling pretty aggressively” and focusing mainly on the teenage girls. (RELATED: Pennsylvania Rep Offers Reward To Anyone Who Will Dox Pro-Life Teens In His Video)
Sims posted the video to Facebook where it remained until May 7 when a user reported it for “promoting graphic violence.” Facebook then removed the video.
????UPDATE: Facebook TAKES DOWN @BrianSimsPA video where he offered $100 donations to anyone who would DOX Pro-Life teenagers that Sims had filmed (and targeted).
And I can CONFIRM it was a take down, thanks to @codehitchhiker who helped in reporting it to FB in the first place. pic.twitter.com/Do4EpYLHhr
— Nick Monroe (@nickmon1112) May 7, 2019
Facebook did not directly respond when asked by TheDCNF why Facebook took so long to remove the video.
“We believe in giving people a voice, but we also want everyone using Facebook to feel safe,” a Facebook spokeswoman said to TheDCNF. “That’s why we have Community Standards regarding Coordinating Harm and remove anything that violates them as soon as we become aware of it.”
The spokeswoman referred TheDCNF to their guidelines on ‘Coordinating Harm,’ which claims that Facebook does not allow posts that could potentially harm people. However, Rep. Sims’ post remained up on Facebook for three weeks until it was removed May 7.
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