Although easily the most widely used social media company in the world, Facebook seems pretty determined to avoid using its data and information collection powers for good. The company is now facing criticism that its most recent game of pass the buck cost two Wisconsin protesters who were demonstrating for justice after the police shooting that partially paralyzed Jacob Blake their lives. Anthony Huber, 26, of Silver Lake, and Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, of Kenosha, were killed when 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who has all the makings of a 2020 aspiring Klansman, allegedly opened fire on them using an assault rifle.
Hours before the shooting, the Kenosha Guard's Facebook page—which considered itself a militia group—organized a "call to arms" event that two users flagged Facebook about for allegedly inciting violence, according to a post confirmed by Business Insider from the news site The Verge. The morning after Huber and Rosenbaum were killed, the group reportedly urged users again to "take up arms and defend our city tonight from the evil thugs."
Facebook’s defense to The Verge was that there has been no direct link between the page and the accused shooter. “We’ve designated this shooting as a mass murder and have removed the shooter’s accounts from Facebook and Instagram,” a Facebook spokesperson told the news site. “At this time, we have not found evidence on Facebook that suggests the shooter followed the Kenosha Guard Page or that he was invited on the Event Page they organized. However, the Kenosha Guard Page and their Event Page violated our new policy addressing militia organizations and have been removed on that basis.”
In a statement to Business Insider, Facebook said the account wasn’t taken down sooner because users’ warnings didn’t make it to a team that handles “militia-related content” in time. "This work is done by our specialized team whose primary role is to enforce our dangerous organizations policy and who specifically enforces this new policy update. This team continues studying terminology and symbolism used by these organizations to identify the language used that indicates violence so we can take action accordingly," Facebook told Business Insider.
The Kenosha group’s founder, 36-year-old Kevin Mathewson, said a teen “had no business being armed legally or ethically,” but the shooter is “responsible for his own actions,” according to The Guardian. Kenosha police, however, are accused of tossing a bottle of water to a person who appears to be the gunman as well as other armed civilians at the protest. “We appreciate you being here,” one officer could be heard saying, according to the Associated Press.
Click here to support organizations that are fighting every day for racial justice.
RELATED: White domestic terrorist and Trump supporter killed two people in Kenosha, Wisconsin
RELATED: Kenosha police chief finds a way to blame protesters for their own deaths
Achieving racial justice requires change at every political level. Ready to hand President Donald Trump—and every Republican—a humiliating defeat? Sign up with Vote Forward to write personalized letters to infrequent, but Democratic-leaning, voters in swing states. Help us wash Trump out of office with a big blue wave of record-breaking turnout.
