Loomer was one of six users to be removed from Facebook for violating the company’s policies on hate speech. Other big names banned from the site include conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
“We’ve always banned individuals or organizations that promote or engage in violence and hate, regardless or ideology,” Facebook said in a statement in May. “The process for evaluating potential violators is extensive and it is what led us to our decision to remove these accounts today.”
Facebook’s decision came at a time when bigoted violence was rising around the world, and the company was facing intense pressure to take a more aggressive stance on extremist content.
Loomer, who has called Islam a “cancer,” and told her followers that “Muslims should not be allowed to seek positions of political office” denies that her speech falls in the category of “dangerous individuals and organizations.”
“By calling Ms. Loomer dangerous and banning her from Facebook, and its related wholly owned and controlled entity Instagram, the companies have not only maliciously defamed her but in effect issued another Intifada to harm her for criticism of Reps. Omar and Tlaib and their blatant anti-Semitism,” Loomer’s lawyer, Larry Klayman, said in a press release.
Loomer is suing Facebook for defamation, defamation per se, and defamation by implication. She is requesting that the company apologize, reinstate her accounts, refund her legal fees, and pay her $3 billion in punitive damages, “designed to sufficiently punish” so that the “conduct not reoccur.”
Tags
