Biden inauguration: Facebook takes down posts with 'stop the steal' phrase

Social media giant Facebook is rolling out more "unusually aggressive" policies following the Capitol Hill riot that injured a number of police officers. The latest crackdown is directed against the phrase "stop the steal."

A post made by Facebook's VP Integrity, Guy Rosen, and VP Global Policy Management, Monika Bickert, on Monday revealed that the internet giant will be taking additional steps that could help stop the misinformation and content deemed to incite further violence within the succeeding weeks.

Rusen and Bickert revealed that it will be now removing content that would have the "stop the steal" phrase. The two company officers cited the Coordinating Harm policy of Facebook and Instagram as the basis of the removal of such phrases.

They also reiterated that they have removed the original "Stop the Steal" group in November. They have also been vigilant in removing pages and groups, which they perceive to be violating the platform's policies.

While they allow discussions related to the outcome of the elections, what the internet giant apparently does not like is the "continued attempts to organise events against the outcome of the US presidential election that can lead to violence."

The post admitted that it will take some time for them to enforce the new step, but they have already started removing a number of posts.

Facebook also noted that they would not be running ads from politicians. This was in addition to the implemented indefinite suspension of President Donald Trump's account.

It was not only Facebook which banned the account of Pres. Trump. Twitter has likewise permanently suspended his account. According to Twitter in a Jan. 8 post, it made the permanent suspension "due to the risk of further incitement of violence." Twitter also cited its Twitter Rules and its public interest framework as the basis for such actions. After the suspension, Goodbye Twitter trended.

Facebook

Aside from the suspension of Donald Trump's account and taking down the "Stop the Steal" page, there were other pages that suffered the same fate. CNBC reported that Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg announced taking down Proud Boys and QAnon. Despite the takedown, she also said that their "enforcement is never perfect" and that she was sure there were still things that were on Facebook. She also gave her two cents with regard to the Capitol Hill violence, saying that she thinks that the events were largely organised on platforms that do not have Facebook's standards or transparency.