Tech giant Facebook must remove videos of right wing militias kidnapping migrants, a civil rights group demanded this week.
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law sent a letter to the company on Wednesday calling for it to remove content –from– posted by members of the New Mexico-based extremist group the United Constitutional Patriots (UCP) that is in “flagrant” violations of the platform’s terms of service.
UCP members have uploaded material to the social media site that shows the far-right militant group holding migrants at the border hostage.
The videos frequently show groups of defenseless migrants surrounded by heavily armed members of the militia.
“Because these videos include content showing possible assault, kidnapping and false imprisonment, among other illegal acts,” the lawyers’ committee said in a statement announcing the letter, “UCP is in violation of Facebook’s Community Standards, which prohibits ‘content depicting … criminal acts’ including ‘acts of physical harm committed against people.'”
The videos also show a disturbing crossover with federal officials, as the Daily Beast‘s Audrey McNamara reported last week.
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