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Facebook, Instagram Close Accounts of Italian Neo-fascist Groups

Reuters

   ROME - Facebook and Instagram on Monday blocked the social media
   accounts of two Italian neo-fascist groups and some of their activists
   because they had violated the platforms' policies against spreading
   hate, Facebook said.

   Casapound and Forza Nuova, which espouse extreme right-wing ideologies,
   have boosted their profile in Italy by leading anti-migrant campaigns
   on their social media sites.

   "People and organizations that spread hatred or attack others based on
   who they are, have no place on Facebook and Instagram," Facebook, which
   owns Instagram, said in a statement.

   Casapound leader Simone Di Stefano denounced the decision.

   "This is an abuse by a private multinational in contempt of Italian
   law. A spit in the face of democracy," he wrote in a tweet. Casapound
   had 250,000 followers on Facebook.

   Di Stefano said his personal profile, which had 140,000 followers, had
   been shuttered along with those of a number of city councilors around
   Italy who belong to the group.

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