LONDON, April 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S tech giant Facebook has permanently banned accounts of a number of British far-right groups and their leaders for violating its "dangerous individuals and organisations policy."
Having come into effect at midday on Thursday, the ban includes some of Britain's most prominent far-right groups and figures, with some of those advocating their political stances through violent or hateful speeches or acts.
"The individuals and organizations we have banned today violate this policy, and they will no longer be allowed a presence on Facebook or Instagram," the tech company said in a statement, adding that the ban would extend to content that "expresses praise or support" for the cited individuals and groups.
Facebook has been taking measures to "manage problematic content" in recent years, and the latest move came a week after the British government released the Online Harms white paper which aims to build the country a safer place to go online.
According to the white paper, social media platforms such as Facebook should be held accountable not only for removing illegal content, but also for removing content which is "harmful but not necessarily illegal."
The tech giant's ban on far-right content was welcomed by British officials including Yvette Cooper, a member of the country's main opposition Labour Party, who described the company's action as "long overdue."
"For too long social media companies have been facilitating extremist and hateful content online and profiting from the poison," she was quoted as saying by the British Broadcasting Corporation. "We all know the appalling consequences there can be if hateful, violent and illegal content is allowed to proliferate."
