Meta Declines to Remove Horrific Posts Calling for Violence Against Muslims, Calling Them “Cockroaches” and Saying It’s “Time for Hunting”

In 2022, the Center for Countering Digital Hate released a report revealing that major social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, failed to remove 90 percent of Islamophobic content. Facebook had only removed seven posts out of 125 flagged by the Center, which violated its own community guidelines against expressions of contempt.

Since then, Facebook's situation has only deteriorated. The platform is now filled with Islamophobic and anti-Arab content, ranging from AI-generated imagery to calls for violence. This toxic mix has been amplified by viewers, leading to further intolerance and harassment against Muslim Americans. The recent surge in this hatred can be linked to white supremacist social media influencer Jake Lang, who encouraged followers to participate in a "crusader march" in Dearborn, Michigan, a city with the largest Arab-American community in the U.S. Despite Facebook's policies against such content, the platform did not remove the post or others containing similar messages.

One post urging "hunting" and another comment on a Futurism article were left up after being reported for calling for violence. The use of dehumanizing language, such as comparing humans to cockroaches, also remained unaddressed. This behavior by Facebook is consistent with its history of enabling genocide, as the company benefits financially from propagating such content, which resonates with its user base and fuels the far-right agenda.