Facebook announced Monday that they were banning all content that mentions the phrase “stop the steal.”
Any content containing the phrase will be removed from Facebook and Instagram under the company’s Coordinating Harm policy, Facebook said in a press release. The original “stop the steal” group was removed in November and Facebook said that they have already removed a “significant amount of posts” under the new policy.
“We’ve been allowing robust conversations related to the election outcome and that will continue,” Facebook said. “But with continued attempts to organize events against the outcome of the US presidential election that can lead to violence, and use of the term by those involved in Wednesday’s violence in DC, we’re taking this additional step in the lead up to the inauguration.” (RELATED: Report: Facebook To Halt Political Donations After Capitol Riot)
Our Preparations Ahead of Inauguration Day https://t.co/7UjKbOdvgG
— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) January 11, 2021
A mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building Wednesday in protest of the certification of the Electoral College votes. Five people died, including a Capitol Police officer.
A social media crackdown followed the riot. President Donald Trump was banned from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest and many more companies that said he incited violence. (RELATED: Google Bans Parler From Play Store, Citing Potential To ‘Incite Ongoing Violence’ After Capitol Building Riot)
Facebook announced several other steps that they were taking in preparation for the inauguration on Jan. 20. It has extended operations of its Integrity Operations Center through at least Jan. 22 “to monitor and respond to threats in real time,” the press release said. Facebook is also cooperating with federal and local law enforcement, maintaining their pause on political ads, and adding a news digest to Facebook News during inauguration week.