Racist groups banned by Facebook change account names, get right back on, research shows

Researchers report that a number of white supremacist/white nationalist/violent racist crackpot groups like the 'Proud Boys' and 'Soldiers of Odin' (gag) are doing just fine and being very active on Facebook -- all they had to do is ever so slightly modify their names.

Facebook's not-very-effective ban was a kludgy response to the mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand, the prelude to which was live-streamed on Facebook by the killer.

Over a month after Facebook announced a ban of a number of white nationalist, white supremacist, and other hate groups, they are still on the platform and continue to use it for recruitment, reports Buzzfeed News:

Facebook likes to make a PR move and say that theyre doing something but they dont always follow up on that, Megan Squire, an Elon University computer science professor who researches online extremism, told a joint BuzzFeed NewsToronto Star investigation.

Kevin Chan, one of Facebooks global policy directors, said while they proactively removed some hate groups, the company also relies on users, journalists, and other sources to report when banned personalities make it back on the platform.

Chan said that sometimes it may feel like whack-a-mole, but he considers it more of an arms race with Facebook trying to get better at keeping listed hate groups off its platform, and those banned users figuring out new ways to find their way back online.

Every time we are learning. Now, we presume theyre also learning I think its really more of an arms race, Chan said.