Facebook refuses to take down hate speech page memorializing killer Elliot Rodger

Powerlifters Against Feminism has a Facebook page up right now with hate speech on it that promotes and glorifes violence against women, yet Facebook refuses to take down the page, claiming there is no hate speech.

Here’s a post from the page’s host:

 

Shoutout to my boy elliot rodger. He did the best thing us men could do. And paid the ultimate price. Let his death be a memorial day in which we hate against the subhuman species called women.

 

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RIP in piece brother

 

Yet, after a fan of Reel Girl alerted me to the page and complained to Facebook about it, she messaged me:

By the way, they refused to remove it stating there is no hate speech. I just got a notification.

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Let me ask you this, Facebook: How is there no hate speech in the line “Let his death be a memorial day in which we hate against the subhuman species called women.” (Italics mine)

It is the acceptance of misogynistic communities like this one that helps to create and foster mass murderers like Rodger and violence against women in general. Just like the police who investigated Elliot, Facebook has a history of not taking hate speech against women seriously. We all contribute to it this culture of violence if we take no action stop the hate.  I just reported this page to Facebook. Please do so as well. Do not accept that this page does not promote hate speech. You can go to this link to report it. Here’s the form I got. Check “hate speech or personal attack.”

All reports are strictly confidential. What best describes this?

Update: I received this message from facebook:

Support Dashboard

Here’s the latest status of your reports and inquiries. If we need more information, we’ll let you know here.
History
  • You reported Powerlifters Against Feminism for containing hate speech or symbols.

    Close

    Status This page wasn’t removed
    Details
    • Thank you for taking the time to report something that you feel may violate our Community Standards. Reports like yours are an important part of making Facebook a safe and welcoming environment. We reviewed the page you reported for containing hate speech or symbols and found it doesn’t violate our Community Standards.
      Note: If you have an issue with something on the page, be sure to report the content (ex: a photo), not the entire page. That way, your report will be more accurately reviewed.
    Report Date Today
    Owner
    Reason Hate Speech or Symbol

Update:  Many Reel Girl fans reported this hate speech to Facebook and received the same message:

We reviewed the page you reported for containing hate speech or symbols and found it doesn’t violate our Community Standards.

Some people started reporting the specific speech/ post, not the page. The first responses from Facebook were reported as follows:

I reported both the horrible hateful page and the (criminal) violence promoting post. Got two answers from fb, telling “the page does not violate our community standards”…

 

Another Reel Girl fan writes:

I reported the page and the individual post and got the same reply. Ridiculous.

 

And then, finally, one hour ago, a fan writes:

Just got notification that they revised their decision on the post I reported and removed it!

 

And another one received the same revised response:

Me too! I’m glad they wised up and reconsidered.

 

And a third did as well:

Yep! Just got notification it was removed. Woohoo! No luck on taking down the whole page, though

 

I posted all of those because I never got the revised Facebook response, but maybe that’s because I reported the page, not that one post? Still, what is Facebook’s excuse for telling people that first reported the exact post that it did not contain hate speech and then needing to “revise” their decision? It’s insanity. I suppose I’m grateful that Facebook took a tiny step towards coming to its senses and realize “hate against the subhuman species called women” qualifies as hate speech.

12 thoughts on “Facebook refuses to take down hate speech page memorializing killer Elliot Rodger

  1. when you report something to fb and they turn it down you get a chance to leave feedback. It is always worth doing as it seems to get through to an actual human being. They also seem to pull things if they receive a certain number of complaints.

  2. There is a group. Women Action & the Media. They will help get this sexist nonsense off of Facebook. Just e-mail the links to them and they will do what they can to get them off. I’ve sent them a few things and they’re doing what they can to get them down.

  3. I reported it and they said they would remove the picture. I think a lot of people reported it in the way listed above 🙂

  4. I reported the post and received a post saying it doesn’t violate community standards, the same response I have recieved for three other threatening misogynistic posts I have reported.

  5. Go to the page, see what advertisers show up in the sidebar and notify them that Facebook has tied their products to this group.

    • Satire: the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

      ‘Satire’ and ‘it was just a joke’ do not apply here

  6. I just tried reporting the specific post as hate speech. Let’s see if that works better than reporting the page.

  7. So I reported this as well! Disgusting the entire page From “Powerlifters against Feminism”, post is about 5 post down. I did this from my phone and I clicked on the photo.
    Below the photo there is the option to “Report”
    Clicked report.
    “Why am I reporting this photo?”

    Of the 3 choices I clicked ” I think I shouldn’t be on Facebook”

    Click “continue”

    “What’s wrong with this photo”

    Click “Other”
    “This is annoying” is not the best choice, don’t click on it.

    Click “continue”

    “What wrong with this photo?”

    “This advocates harm or violence or mocks injured victims”
    OR
    “This threatens or insults based on race, sex, orientation or ability”
    Are good choices but based on the examples listed this one above is a better choice.

    Click “continue”
    Make sure to click the “report to Facebook” box, then click “continue”

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