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A wave of militant activity has surfaced on social media platforms, particularly Facebook, raising serious concerns about the role of these networks in facilitating the organisation and recruitment of extremist groups, especially since elections are near. The paramilitary movement in the United States is using Facebook to coordinate training and share information and promote actions that could escalate political tensions, especially as presidential elections are near.
First reported by Wired with data from the Tech Transparency Project, the paramilitary groups have been mushrooming on Facebook rapidly. The leader of Kentucky-based Three Percenter militia openly called for a centralised meeting place for ‘patriots’ from across the country, which sparked enthusiastic responses from members ready to take action.
The comments on these posts call for extreme violence, and these groups recruit and organise through Facebook to strengthen their networks and facilitate local organising efforts.
According to the Tech Transparency Project, 262 groups and 193 pages associated with militia and anti-government activism have emerged since 2021, with nearly two dozen created since May.
A Meta spokesperson told Candid Technology that they banned over 900 accounts, including 15 groups, 40 pages, 600 Facebook accounts, and 250 Instagram accounts, in a recent post-removal drive in June.
Despite the evident risks, Meta has been criticised for its inconsistent enforcement of its policies against hate groups and extremists. Following the Capitol riots in 2021, many militia groups retreated from public view, but a recent resurgence on Facebook indicates that they have quietly rebuilt their presence.
Facebook’s role in this resurgence is not merely passive. The platform has even auto-generated pages for militia groups, raising questions about its commitment to combating extremism. For instance, pages for the American Patriots Three Percent (AP3) have been created automatically, despite Meta designating the group as a dangerous extremist organisation.
This contradiction between Meta’s stated policies and operational practices raises significant concerns regarding the platform’s effectiveness in promoting user radicalisation.
“There were only five examples shared with us by screenshot. One of the two auto-generated Pages had one follower and has been removed, and we couldn’t even verify that the second example of an auto-generated Page exists on the platform,” a Meta spokesperson told Candid.Technology. “Adversaries are constantly trying to find new ways around our policies, but we will continue to remove any groups and accounts that violate our policies.”
Experts voiced scepticism about Meta’s ability to combat extremist content on its platform effectively. In stark contrast to the heightened scrutiny of 2020, recent posts from militia groups on Facebook indicate a revival of interest, particularly among individuals with no prior militia experience.
The conversations occurring within these groups often involve explicit calls for actions such as organising surveillance, sabotaging ballot drop boxes and expressing fears of an impending civil war.
The Department of Homeland Security recently issued a memo warning that these groups can sabotage or attack ballot boxes.
“The claim that our enforcement against banned groups is lackadaisical is absurd. We have carried out a number of strategic network disruptions against banned groups ahead of this election, including against over 900 assets connected to 3% groups earlier this year.”
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Update: Quotes and a paragraph were added to reflect information shared with Candid.Technology by a Meta spokesperson.
30/10 [12pm IST]
