Facebook is a hotbed for conspiracy theories and dangerous organizing at critical moments, like the over 650,000 posts arguing against President Biden’s victory between the 2020 general election and the January 6 insurrection. Some users scattered following the latter and subsequent prosecutions, but a new report was first published by Wired shows a resurgence, identifying approximately 200 groups and profiles across the platform organizing militia activity across the country.
The investigation, conducted by the Tech Transparency Project, found that these groups have ties to organizations such as the Three Percenters militia network, described by Meta as an “armed militia group” in its 2021 list of dangerous people and organizations. Still, groups like the Free American Army have urged users to join their local militia or the Three Percenters with little consequence (Meta only rebuffed the Free American Army group afterward). Wired asked about it, calling Facebook an “adversarial space” that requires regular investment to stay secure).
Katie Paul, director of the Tech Transparency Project, has monitored hundreds of these groups and people since 2021 and has seen an increased seriousness and focus on organizing compared to last year. “Many of these groups are no longer splintered groups of local militias, but rather coalitions of multiple militia groups, many with Three Percenters at the helm,” Paul said Wired. “Facebook remains the largest meeting place for extremists and militia movements to build a wide network and direct users to more private chats, including on the platform, where they can plan and coordinate with impunity.”
The Tech Transparency Project has found that users are looking for “active patriots” to discuss anti-government ideologies, attend meetings, and engage in combat training. The latter lends itself to a common theme: the willingness to fight back or even go to war against enemies such as drag queens, pro-Palestinian students and the government itself.
Take a recent post from the administrator of a group called Pennsylvania Light Foot, which has over 1,000 members: “Given the violence and uncertainty in the world, Covid-19 shortages, civil unrest and the possibility of terrorist attacks and natural disasters, we exist, to equip our members with the skills to defend themselves, whether it’s a robber on the street or a foreign soldier on our lawn. These views are shared by other extremist organizers on Facebook.
Meta has tried to create at least a façade of action and transparency. In 2019, the Oversight Board was launched as an independent reviewer for content moderation. While the company has highlighted Facebook’s role in dangerous election rhetoric, including incidents outside the United States, critics argue it hasn’t been effective enough. Now, The Washington Post reports that layoffs on the board could be imminent.
On August 14, Meta will shut down CrowdTangle, a tool it purchased in 2016 that allowed journalists and academics to see how conspiracy theories and false information spread on Facebook and its sister site Instagram — often exposing the platforms’ shortcomings. The company is replacing it with the Meta Content Library, which not only appears to be less detailed but also unavailable to for-profit news organizations.