Facebook Clamp Down On Racists, But Accidentally Delete Specials' Neville Staple
It appears they sought to remove skinheads from the network...
*Facebook* instituted a blanket ban on racists earlier this week - but wound up removing a former member of *The Specials*.
The social media network seemed to shut down a number of pages relating to the skinhead subculture, in an attempt to root out Far Right views.
Alongside this, though, they have deleted a host of non-racist pages, notably *Specials* co-founder Neville Staple.
A member of the group up until 2012, the Black British musician is a life-long anti-racist campaigner.
If you want an idea of what more proactive moderation by Facebook looks like in practice. They've seemingly just banned thousands of people into Ska music because Fb has decided to classify the skinhead scene as racist. One of those banned is Neville Staple from The Specials: pic.twitter.com/EXxC3Rq9we
— Aaron Rogan (@AarRogan) June 9, 2020
Facebook have closed 100s of UK accounts with any link to skinhead culture, including Neville Staple's! They clearly know nothing about 2-Tone. If you judge people purely by their clothes & haircut isn’t that a sign of bigotry? Perhaps they should shut themselves down.
— Garry Bushell (@GarryBushell) June 9, 2020
Facebook has yet to comment publicly on the move, which has impacted on record selling groups specialising in Afro-Caribbean music, vintage clothing shops, photo archives, and more.
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