Proud Boys have already been permanently banned from Twitter.
Facebook is banning individual accounts, pages and groups associated with the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group linked to political violence in the US.
Facebook confirmed the news to TechCrunch, and indicated that the group now meets the company’s definition of a hate organisation or figure.
The decision follows an incident that took place in New York earlier in October, where Proud Boys members were allegedly involved in a violent attack on protesters, and five members were arrested.
Members of the Proud Boys allegedly assaulted anti-fascist protestors outside a Republican club in Manhattan where Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes was speaking.
McInnes’s page was among those removed since the banning of the pages began on Tuesday.
According to Tech Crunch, the group “operate a surprisingly sophisticated network for getting new members into the fold via many local and regional Facebook groups.”
Facebook provided the following statement:
Our team continues to study trends in organized hate and hate speech and works with partners to better understand hate organizations as they evolve. We ban these organizations and individuals from our platforms and also remove all praise and support when we become aware of it. We will continue to review content, Pages, and people that violate our policies, take action against hate speech and hate organizations to help keep our community safe.
The Proud Boys call themselves “Western chauvinists,” but they insist they don’t have a connection to organised right-wing extremists.
Twitter has already permanently banned accounts associated with the group and its founder since August.
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