Facebook bars events close to the Biden inauguration, state capitols
Facebook is taking steps to avoid a repeat of what happened on Jan. 6.
When Donald Trump supporters gathered in Washington, D.C. for a mass gathering that eventually ended in the sacking of the U.S. Capitol, many of the groups that attended used social media platforms like Facebook and Parler to organize. Now, ahead of President-elect Joseph R. Biden's Jan. 20 inauguration, Facebook is pulling the plug on events.
"We are blocking the creation of any new Facebook events happening in close proximity to locations including the White House, the US Capitol building and any of the state capitol buildings through Inauguration Day," the social network wrote in a Friday update to its post covering Jan. 20 preparations.
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The same note added that Facebook will also be reviewing any existing, previously created events "related to the inauguration." Any events that are found to be in violation of Facebook's revised policies will be removed.
Further, non-U.S. accounts and pages will continue to be barred from creating events inside the U.S., as was the case ahead of and after the 2020 election. Facebook also said that it's "restricting some features for people in the US based on signals such as repeat violations of our policies," but offers no details as to who, exactly, is affected.
Functionally though, accounts that are hit with these restrictions could be blocked from creating live videos, events, Facebook Groups, or pages.
The move comes in the midst of lingering outrage over the events of Jan. 6 and concerns about the ongoing potential for more violence. Airbnb has already disallowed reservations and canceled existing ones in D.C. ahead of the inauguration. Meanwhile, secure(-ish) messaging app Telegram said that it has blocked "dozens" of channels that are calling for violence.
Topics Facebook Social Media
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
