Facebook says it is banning several of Britain's most high-profile far-right organisations and leaders under the company's "dangerous individuals and organisations" policy, weeks after announcing a crackdown on white nationalism on its platforms.
The company intends to put Facebook and Instagram bans on the British National Party and Nick Griffin, Britain First and Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen, the English Defence League and Paul Ray, Knights Templar International and Jim Dowson, National Front and Tony Martin, and Jack Renshaw.
A Facebook spokesperson said they were acting on the above pages because those "who spread hate" would "have no place on Facebook".
“Individuals and organisations who spread hate, or attack or call for the exclusion of others on the basis of who they are, have no place on Facebook," the spokesperson said.
"Under our Dangerous Individuals & Organisations policy, we ban those who proclaim a violent or hateful mission or are engaged in acts of hate or violence. The individuals and organisations we have banned today violate this policy, and they will no longer be allowed a presence on Facebook or Instagram."
Unlike bans in the past – Britain First's Facebook page with more than two million likes was removed last year – the company says this move will also see "praise or support" for the organisations and individuals removed from the platforms.
"Posts and other content which expresses praise or support for these figures and groups will also be banned," the Facebook spokesperson said. "
Our work against organised hate is ongoing and we will continue to review individuals, organisations, pages, groups and content against our Community Standards."
It comes after a ban on far-right pages in Canada earlier this month. But as BuzzFeed News later reported, several of those banned were able to find their way back onto Facebook.
At the end of March, Facebook said the company would no longer tolerate white nationalism and white supremacist content after the Christchurch mosque shooting in New Zealand was live-streamed on Facebook Live.
In Australia, the federal government responded by introducing new laws which would force Facebook to remove violent content "expeditiously", while also tipping off police when they found it.