Facebook is actively deleting shares of 'The Daily Stormer' article on Heather Heyer

The post violates Facebook's community standards.
 By 
Kerry Flynn
 on 
Facebook is actively deleting shares of 'The Daily Stormer' article on Heather Heyer
A protester carries an image of Heather Heyer during a demonstration against racism and the violence over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 14, 2017 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Credit: stephen maturen/Getty Images

Facebook isn't just about shutting down fake news. The social network is actively removing posts that link to a disparaging article by neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer.

The piece personally attacks Heather Heyer, who was murdered over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. Facebook said it "violated its community standards," The Verge reported.

Facebook has taken the step of allowing people to share the post only if they also condemn its content, which is not unprecedented but unusual, according to The Verge. Posts that include the link will automatically be removed from Facebook, unless it also includes a caption that condemns either the article or The Daily Stormer, The Verge reported.

Facebook's action comes after the article was surfaced in the site's trending news section. One Twitter user took a screenshot of her Facebook app Sunday night when the article had 65,000 shares.

Facebook took action against The Daily Stormer on the same day GoDaddy gave a 24-hour warning before removing them as a client. Google also banned them from its domain services and removed its YouTube channel. As of Tuesday morning, the group's website remains down.

The article is now up to 364,000 shares on Facebook but the link doesn't work since The Daily Stormer hasn't found a new domain provider, noted Recode's Peter Kafka:

This is not the first time Facebook has actively removed content from being shared on its website, according to The Verge, but it is in unusual.

Facebook's terms do condemn hate groups and violence.

"Our current definition of hate speech is anything that directly attacks people based on what are known as their 'protected characteristics' — race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity, or serious disability or disease," Facebook's VP EMEA Public Policy Richard Allan wrote in a blog post in June.

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg posted on Facebook Monday, speaking out against the violence in Charlottesville and named Heather Heyer.

"Along with millions of others, I was so heartbroken this weekend. The brave Heather Heyer's mother Susan Bro said she wanted her daughter's 'death to be a rallying cry for justice and equality and fairness and compassion," Sandberg wrote. "Let’s honor her by teaching all of our children how to honor and respect those values."

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Kerry Flynn

Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.

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