>>> Can We Be Saved From Facebook?, Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone, April 3, 2018 <<<

Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard
Zuck: Just ask
Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS
[Redacted Friend’s Name]: What? How’d you manage that one?
Zuck: People just submitted it.
Zuck: I don’t know why.
Zuck: They “trust me”
Zuck: Dumb fucks

In response to criticism of the corporation for livestreaming the Christchurch massacre and its function as central hub for the promotion of antisemitic, racist, sexist and white supremacist propaganda, last week Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, published a statement on Instagram (one of Facebook’s numerous other holdings) titled ‘By Working Together, We Can Win Against Hate’ (March 29, 2019).

It’s a rather odd statement, for a number of reasons. But inre this passage in particular, it’s worth noting that:

• While ‘The Lads Society’ & ‘National Front New Zealand’ pages were recently removed;
• ‘Antipodean Resistance’ never published a page on the site (though its membership is of course active on it);
• The ‘United Patriots Front’ page was deleted almost two years ago (May 2017);
• Neil Erikson’s page ‘Nationalist Uprising’ was also recently unpublished, along with four pages associated with the ‘True Blue Crew’ (NSW, QLD, SA, WA) — presumably on the basis that the Christchurch killer gave props to the TBC, & Erikson is a former member of the UPF (about whom the killer also made complimentary remarks & donated money to in order to support its work) [NB. The TBC QLD page — first published as ‘T.B.C Gold Coast’ on 18 August 2017, then QLD TBC Gold Coast (23 April 2018), then QLD TBC True Blue Crew (5 October 2018) — is up & running @ https :// www . facebook . com / QLD-TBC-True-Blue-Crew-452549338464095; TBC NSW has buggered off to gab];
• Finally, there are any number of associated pages — including but not limited to ‘Australian Meditations’, ‘Cooks Convicts’ & ‘Future Now News’ — that have featured Erikson & others’ ‘hateful’ diatribes, & that happily remain on the platform.

As I see it, these public relations offerings are primarily geared towards mitigating attempts by various jurisdictions to develop & implement laws which, financially & otherwise, would penalise FB for promoting racism & xenophobia, fascism & White supremacy (Facebook was ranked No.76 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue (US$ 55.838 billion)). In any case, there of course hundreds of Facebook pages and groups dedicated to cultivating hatred for Muslims and demanding the criminalisation of Islam in Australia, along with those promoting neo-Nazi, fascist and white supremacist doctrines. Below is a list of 50 that are either dedicated to one or all of the above, or which feature similar materials. Those belonging to MPs are a protected species, but others are theoretically not afforded such protections, and if Sandberg’s policy were implemented would likely be deleted and, as usual, reappear under another guise.

1) Abhorrent Australian Memes did nothing wrong (18 November 2016–)
https://www.facebook.com/Abhorrent-Australian-Memes-did-nothing-wrong-1018690331591700
• Neo-Nazi shitposting.

2) Agenda 21 Australia/COP 2030/Politics (16 October 2013–)
https://www.facebook.com/politicsagenda21
• Conspiracist batshit.

3) Advance Australia Where? – AAW? (11 February 2018–)
https://www.facebook.com/Advance-Australia-Where-AAW-2080074542033001

4) Australian Department of Public Education (1 August 2016–)
https://www.facebook.com/Australian-Department-of-Public-Enlightenment-1027177164044370
• Neo-Nazi shitposting.

5) Australian Liberty Alliance (25 March 2014–)
https://www.facebook.com/australianlibertyalliance
• The Islamophobic ALA, a micro-party registered (28 July 2015) with the AEC which recently applied to change its name to ‘Yellow Vest Australia’, is an outgrowth of The Q Society. (One of its admins is based in France.)

6) Australian Meditations (9 May 2018–)
https://www.facebook.com/Australian-Meditations-174182726624687
• A page which promotes Neil Erikson and which is adminned by one of his Melbourne fanboys, Stefan Eracleous, a former treasurer of the Young Liberals @ the University of Melbourne. ‘Club treasurer Stefan Eracleous describe[d] Ms Greer as a ”lying f—ing c-m guzzling slut … and a union member”. ”She doesn’t believe in God. No kids not married … what do you [e]xpect from a melb uni educated former socialist c—,” he wrote. He also refers to London as ”the gay capital of the world” and appears to hit out at Muslims, telling a friend: ”Just be careful of those mussrats. A lot of them are [a] bunch of Third World degenerate c—s.”’ See : Misogynist rants from Young Libs, Henrietta Cook and Farrah Tomazin, The Age, August 10, 2014.

7) A Voice for Men (13 July 2010–)
https://www.facebook.com/A-Voice-for-Men-102001393188684
• ‘Feminism is cancer!’ Its admins are located in Australia (11 people); United States (5 people); United Kingdom (2 people); Brazil (1 person); and Romania (1 person).

8) Aussie Values (3 October 2010–)
https://www.facebook.com/Aussie-Values-158745760819655
• Originally published as ‘One hour per week for the voiceless’, it adopted ‘Aussie Values’ in July 2015. One admin is located in South Africa.

9) Australians against radical Islam (15 January 2015–)
https://www.facebook.com/australiansagainstradicalislam
• Australians against radical Islam (15 January 2015) > Australians against radical Religion (27 February 2016) > Australians against radical Ideologys (29 February 2016) > Australians against radical Islam (1 March 2016). Its admins are located in Australia (5), Kosovo (4) and Serbia (1).

10) Australian Culture & Heritage Community (20 December 2013–)
https://www.facebook.com/Australiancultureandheritage
• One admin is located in South Africa, and it promotes a project called the ‘South African Family Relief Project NPC’.

11) Australians Resistance Network (19 December 2015–)
https://www.facebook.com/Generationidentityaustralia
• Formerly-titled ‘Generation Identity Australia’, and established by Erikson, it adopted the name Australians Resistance Network on 12 February 2016.

12) The Aus-Right (20 April 2017–)
https://www.facebook.com/AusRight

13) Ban The Burqua (6 May 2010–)
https://www.facebook.com/banburqa

14) Bodkin Trenchfoot (11 November 2013–)
https://www.facebook.com/bodkin.trenchfoot

15) CC (Cooks Convicts) (2 August 2018–)
https://www.facebook.com/CooksConvicts
• Another one of Erikson’s platforms.

16) Counter signal memes for anti-degenerate dingoes (1 August 2016–)
https://www.facebook.com/Degeneratedingoes
• Neo-Nazi shitposting.

17) Counter-Signal Memes For Fashy Goys 2 (15 January 2017–)
https://www.facebook.com/MidwestValuesEntertainment
• Neo-Nazi shitposting. (Run by a Yanqui.)

18) The Deplorables – Australia (2 March 2016–)
https://www.facebook.com/The-Deplorables-Australia-466786253507370
United Patriots Front (2 March 2016) > United Patriots Front – Originals (2 March 2016) > The Deplorables – Australia 30 November 2016
• Another one of Erikson’s platforms.

19) Drain the Swamp Australia (20 November 2016–)
https://www.facebook.com/DrainTheSwampAustralia

20) Dr. Pierce’s Resistance Music and Memes (19 June 2017–)
https://www.facebook.com/Dr-Pierces-Resistance-Music-and-Memes-319880881773815
• Another neo-Nazi page, named in honour of Good American neo-Nazi William Pierce. Pierce authored The Turner Diaries (1978), renowned for having inspired another Good American neo-Nazi, terrorist Timothy McVeigh.

21) Fair Crack of the Whip Mate (16 February 2016–)
https://www.facebook.com/FairCrackOfTheWhip
Sandy Turner – Candidate for Blair (16 February 2016) > Fair Crack of the Whip Mate (20 September 2016) > Sandy Turner’s – Fair Crack of the Whip Mate (16 December 2018) > Sandy Turner – Candidate for Blair (9 February 2019).
• Turner ran as an independent candidate for the federal seat of Blair (QLD) in 2016, when he received 1,913 votes (2.2%).

22) Fair Suck Of The Sav, Mate. (1 April 2014–)
https://www.facebook.com/Fair-Suck-Of-The-Sav-Mate-697234260340734

23) Future Now News (25 June 2018–)
https://www.facebook.com/futurenownews
• A project of Queensland businessmen Ben & Dan Spiller, their main page, Future Now Australia, has been deleted. Another page in which Erikson has played a role.

24) Guardians Of Australia (1 August 2014–)
https://www.facebook.com/GUARDAUSTRALIA
• Australian brotherhood (1 August 2014) > Aussie brotherhood II (5 August 2014) > Australian brotherhood 2 (4 November 2015) > Guardians of brotherhood 2 (20 November 2016) > Guardians of Australia (28 November 2016). Oddly enough, 3 of the admins for the page are located in Israel.

25) Hon Charles Smith MLC (25 January 2017–)
https://www.facebook.com/smithMLC
• The page of Western Australian One Nation politician Charles Smith, publishing precisely what you’d expect it to. ‘A Facebook account in the name of Western Australian One Nation politician Charles Smith posted and then deleted a video of Smith telling ABC boss Michelle Guthrie to “go back to Singapore”, before claiming the national broadcaster is communist.’ See : One Nation Politician Tells Head Of ABC To “Go Back To Singapore”, Brad Esposito, Buzzfeed, October 10, 2017.

26) Kim Vuga Love Australia or Leave Party (25 July 2015–)
https://www.facebook.com/KimVugaLoveAustraliaorLeaveParty
• LAOL is a micro-party registered (16 October 2016) with the AEC. Vuga became a micro-celebrity on the right courtesy of SBS.

27) Make Australia Grouse Again 3 (23 July 2018–)
https://www.facebook.com/makeaustraliagrouseagain3
• Neo-Nazi shitposting.

28) Malcolm Roberts (2 May 2016–)
https://www.facebook.com/malcolmrobertsonenation
• Roberts is a former Australian Senator for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party.

29) Nationalist Alternative Australia (26 June 2014–)
https://www.facebook.com/Nationalist-Alternative-Australia-611198792321370
• NAlt is a Melbourne based neo-Nazi groupuscule.

30) No sharia law – Never ever give up Australia (30 August 2014–)
https://www.facebook.com/neverevergiveupkeepgoingnow
Never Give Up (30 August 2014) > Never Ever Give Up Australia (10 September 2014) > Never Ever Give Up Australia – say no to Sharia Law (28 September 2014) > No sharia law – Never give up Australia (1 October 2014) > No sharia law – Never ever give up Australia (1 October 2014). One admin is based in Israel.

31) Patriotic Musings (2 August 2017–)
https://www.facebook.com/Patriotic-Musings-1838108002872482
Straight Talking Australian (2 August 2017) > Patriotic Musings (11 November 2017)

32) PDLA Patriots Defence League – Australia (30 March 2014–)
https://www.facebook.com/PDLA-Patriots-Defence-League-Australia-237357993132774
• One of numerous PDLA pages. The PDLA emerged as a splinter from the Australian Defence League, itself an Australian version of the English Defence League, and memorably once claimed to be a women’s right organisation. See : Anti-Islam group deregistered for masquerading as domestic violence group, Bianca Hall, The Age, July 2, 2015. One admin is based in the UK.

33) Political Posting Mumma (18 August 2016–)
https://www.facebook.com/politicalpostingmumma
Insightfulmama (18 August 2016) > Politicalpostingmumma (9 April 2017) > Political Posting Mumma (1 April 2018)
• A page run by Liberal Party delegate Marijke Rancie. See : ‘Political posting mumma’ who attacked Safe Schools warned over Facebook page, Simone Fox Koob & Adam Carey, The Age, November 19, 2018 | Victorian Liberal member faces expulsion over ‘moronic Mormons’ post on social media, Richard Willingham, ABC, May 11, 2018 | Who’s behind the Safe School videos? The concerned mums’ political connections, Farrah Tomazin and Henrietta Cook, August 12, 2017.

34) Proud Aussies Against Halal (10 February 2015–)
https://www.facebook.com/proudaussiesagainsthalal

35) Royal Australian Infidel (30 April 2014–)
https://www.facebook.com/rainfidel
RAInfidel (30 April 2014) > Royal Australian Infidel (8 May 2014)
• RAInfidel specialises in selling anti-Muslim merch. In August 2016, veterans’ organisation Legacy announced it would no longer accept a proportion of the profits the business had donated to it. At the time it was reported in the Herald Sun that the page had suggested nuclear weapons could be a solution to Islamic terrorism. Another T-shirt design says “if your religion is worth killing for please start with yourself.” See : Detention centre guards suspended over social media posts, Joshua Robertson, The Guardian, April 14, 2015.

36) Reclaim Australia Rally (5 January 2015–)
https://www.facebook.com/reclaimau
Reclaim Australia Rally – Sydney CBD (5 January 2015) > Reclaim Australia Inc.- Sydney (17 February 2016) > Reclaim Australia.- Sydney (4 March 2016) > Reclaim Australia-Original Reclaim NSW (13 March 2016) > Reclaim Australia Rally (14 October 2016)
• The central page for the organisation of anti-Muslim protests in 2015, Reclaim gave birth to the UPF and provides a forum for UPF member Scott Moerland to publish diatribes about Muslims.
37) Reclaim Australia Rally – Esperance (17 January 2015–)
https://www.facebook.com/reclaimwesternaustralia
38) Reclaim Australia Rally – Western Australia (5 January 2015–)
https://www.facebook.com/ReclaimAustraliaWA
Reclaim Australia Rally – Perth (5 January 2015) > Reclaim Australia Rally – Western Australia (12 September 2016)

39) Senator David Leyonhjelm (9 September 2013–)
https://www.facebook.com/SenatorDavidLeyonhjelm
David Leyonhjelm – Liberal Democrats Senator NSW (9 September 2013) > Senator David Leyonhjelm (3 January 2017) > David Leyonhjelm, Lead Candidate for Liberal Democrats NSW (1 March 2019)
• A proprietarian in Parliament. See : Australian senator Leyonhjelm criticised for ‘sexist slurs’, BBC, July 2, 2018.

40) Senator Fraser Anning (8 December 2017–)
https://www.facebook.com/senatorfraseranning
• A white nationalist politician who enjoys consorting with neo-Nazis, including members of The Lads Society and the UPF, the Senator notoriously called for a ‘Final Solution’ to ‘The Immigration Problem’ in his maiden speech to federal parliament in August 2018. Regarded by many white nationalists and neo-Nazis as /Our Guy/ in parliament. See also : Fraser Anning staffer and alleged Nazi enthusiast employed by Home Affairs, Nicole Hasham, The Sydney Morning Herald, March 22, 2019.

41) Soldiers Of Odin Australia. Main Page & Melbourne Division (28 February 2016–)
https://www.facebook.com/soomelbau
Soldiers Of Odin Melbourne, Australia (28 February 2016) > Soldiers Of Odin Australia. Main Page & Melbourne Division (12 October 2016)
• Founded in 2015 by Finnish neo-Nazi Mika Ranta, SOO has since spread around the world. One local member was recently convicted of assault.

42) Stand Up For Australia- Canberra (29 June 2015–)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/biz/Stand-Up-For-Australia-Canberra-809184489177854
Stand up for canberra 2 (19 June 2015) > Stand Up For Australia- Canberra (26 October 2015) > Stand Up For Australia- Canberra (25 March 2016)

43) Stand Up For Australia – National (29 June 2015–)
https://www.facebook.com/Stand-Up-For-Australia-National-1586230658317599

44) STOP SAFE Schools Coalition (10 February 2016–)
https://www.facebook.com/STOPSAFEschools

45) Sydney Sceptics (11 May 2015–)
https://www.facebook.com/SydneySceptics
The Men’s Liberation Front for Truth and Justice. (11 May 2015) > WSU Sceptics society. (23 November 2015) > WSU Sceptics Society. (13 December 2015) > Sceptic Society (3 April 2017) > Sydney Sceptics (5 October 2017)

46) The Unshackled (17 September 2016–)
https://www.facebook.com/TUnshackled
• Oddly, two of the admins for Timmeh! Wilson’s page are located in Kosovo. According to a recent report by the ABC: ‘A network of popular Facebook pages that have built large audiences catering to Australians agitated over hot button issues such as Islam, refugees and political correctness is under the control of trolls and scammers from the Balkans who profit from the outrage they stir up… The Facebook pages have a combined fanbase of 130,000-plus, which has been built up over several years. The oldest and most popular page, “Australians against Sharia”, has been publishing since June 2013. The three other pages are called “Aussie infidels”, “Stop the Mosque in Melbourne” and “Stop all Mosque in Narre Warren” (sic). Narre Warren is a suburb on the south-east outskirts of Melbourne.’ See : Facebook trolls and scammers from Kosovo are manipulating Australian users, Michael Workman and Stephen Hutcheon, ABC, March 16, 2019.

47) Truthies (16 August 2017–)
https://www.facebook.com/TruthophobesCuttingDownEvil
• Truly one of the more entertainingly bathshit of the pages listed here.

48) UNA Media (4 June 2017–)
https://www.facebook.com/UnitedNationalistsAustralia
• An online shitsheet for the white nationalist Australia First Party. Its chief writer, Nathan Sykes, one of Australia’s most prominent far-right extremists, was recently charged with making repeated and explicit violent threats against a Melbourne journalist and lawyer. Another contributor, Chris Shortis, is a former member of the UPF who in September 2017 was found guilty of religious vilification.

49) West Syd Memes (29 June 2017–)
https://www.facebook.com/westsuburbsmemes
Western suburbs intell (29 June 2017) > Western suburbs memes (10 July 2017) > West Syd Memes (23 April 2018)

50) XYZ (24 October 2014–)
https://www.facebook.com/itsyourxyz
• Another AltRight page which promotes antisemitic conspiracy theories and white nationalism and publishes neo-Nazi diatribes. See : Keyboard Warriors of the Australian #AltRight : XYZ & David Hiscox (February 5, 2018).

Facebook has demonstrated its reluctance to comply with the law, and we can’t expect it to sacrifice profit for ethics unless it is required to. Serious and substantial penalties for failure to comply would be an incentive to ensure Facebook and Instagram do what they are currently reluctant to do.

~ Professor Beth Gaze, Co-Director of Studies, Employment and Labour Relations Law, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne, White supremacist terrorism, technology and the law, Pursuit, University of Melbourne, March 27, 2019