Mark Zuckerberg confirms that Facebook won’t ban people who call for murder
Lucas Manfredi
4 min read
'Borat' star Sacha Baron Cohen slammed FacebookCEO Mark Zuckerberg Tuesday for his decision to allow former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon to remain on the social media platform despite calling for director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray to be beheaded.
"Reprehensible. Mark Zuckerberg confirms that Facebook won’t ban people who call for murder—so long as they don’t do it too often!," Cohen tweeted. "Make no mistake—like Myanmar and Kenosha, more innocent people will be killed. And Facebook will be why."
A spokesperson for Facebook did not immediately return FOX Business' request for comment on Cohen's tweet.
Bannon made the threat in a video of his podcast on Nov. 5, which was posted to Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. He slammed Fauci and Wray for disagreeing with President Donald Trump and said "I'd put their heads on pikes" outside of the White House to warn other federal officials.
“I actually want to go a step farther. I’d actually like to go back to the old times of Tudor England,” Bannon said in the now-deleted video. “I’d put the heads on pikes, right — I’d put them at the two corners of the White House as a warning to federal bureaucrats. You either get with the program or you are gone.”
Zuckerberg acknowledged in a virtual hearing Tuesday that Bannon's video violated Facebook's policies and was taken down. However, when asked by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) if Facebook would suspend the former Trump advisor's account, Zuckerberg said it would not.
"Senator, no, that's not what our policies would suggest that we should do in this case," Zuckerberg said.
Zuckerberg argued that violating Facebook's policies does not immediately warrant the suspension of an account. Instead, the number of strikes before an account is suspended varies on the type of offense. He noted that if users post terrorism content or child exploitation content, Facebook will immediately take down their account.
Meanwhile, Bannon's Twitter account was permanently suspended for glorifying violence.
"The @WarRoomPandemic account has been permanently suspended for violating the Twitter Rules, specifically our policy on the glorification of violence," the spokesperson said via email.
As for Youtube, Bannon's video was removed from his channel, 'Steve Bannon's War Room'. A source familiar with YouTube's thinking said the video was viewed approximately 200,000 times on the platform before it was removed.
A Youtube spokesperson did not immediately return FOX Business' request for comment.
This is not the first time Cohen has slammed Zuckerberg or Big Tech.
Following projections that Joe Biden would become the 46th president of the United States, the actor tweeted an image of Zuckerberg alongside President Trump captioned, “One down. One to go.”
In addition, Cohen previously blasted Big Tech for being the "greatest propaganda machine ever" during a fiery speech given at the Anti-Defamation League's Never Is Now Summit on Anti-Semitism and Hate in New York City.
Cohen said that demagogues and autocracy, as well as hate crimes against minorities, are surging -- and he put the blame squarely on Silicon Valley.
The comedian -- citing the rise of fake news, the viral spread of conspiracy theories on YouTube, the ability of platforms to erase distinctions between news outlets, and the ways in which conspiracy-minded thinking can lead to real-world violence -- didn't hold back.
He singled out Zuckerberg, slamming the mogul's defense of the tech company's policies as a matter "free expression” as "utter nonsense."
"The First Amendment says that 'Congress shall make no law' abridging freedom of speech, however, this does not apply to private businesses like Facebook," Cohen said in his remarks. "We’re not asking these companies to determine the boundaries of free speech across society. We just want them to be responsible on their platforms."
He also hit Zuckerberg over comments on a podcast last year about Holocaust denial, which were widely criticized. Zuckerberg said denying the Holocaust is "deeply offensive," but that he didn't believe Facebook "should take that down because I think there are things that different people get wrong.”
A Facebook spokesperson provided Fox News with the following statement following Cohen’s 2019 speech:
"Sacha Baron Cohen misrepresented Facebook’s policies. Hate speech is actually banned on our platform. We ban people who advocate for violence and we remove anyone who praises or supports it. Nobody – including politicians – can advocate or advertise hate, violence or mass murder on Facebook.”
Zuckerberg's comment on Bannon's account came as conservative lawmakers grilled Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey over what they claim is anti-conservative bias on their platforms. The hearing Tuesday was scheduled in part to discuss how the social media companies make their content moderation decisions.
