State Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Bigelow, accused Facebook of suppressing conservative speech Monday, saying the social media company removed two posts in which he called for Muslim immigrants to be banned from entering the country.
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Rapert's posts came after bomb attacks in New York and New Jersey, as well as a stabbing in Minnesota, which local officials have described as terrorism. The three-term lawmaker said he was praying for the victims of the attacks in one of the posts.
The posts went on to say that "we need to round up every single Muslim extremist sympathizer and other anti-American crazies and detain them or deport them."
Rapert sent a screen shot of the posts that included a message stating they were removed for violating Facebook's Community Standards.
An inquiry sent to Facebook was not returned by late Monday afternoon. Rapert said he had not heard back from the company after asking for an explanation.
Facebook's Community Standards states users "may encounter opinions that are different from yours, which we believe can lead to important conversations about difficult topics."
The policy also states Facebook administrators can remove "sensitive content or limit the audience that sees it." The company defines hate speech as attacking people based on religious affiliation.
Rapert complained that the company had been inconsistent in enforcing its policy, which also prohibits bullying and harassment. He said attacks on him and other conservative Christians were abusive, but not removed from the website.
A Section on 09/20/2016