Facebook erases far-right activist’s page, Instagram profile

LONDON – Facebook has taken down the page and Instagram profile of far-right activist Tommy Robinson after determining he violated policies forbidding hate speech.

The social media giant said Tuesday in a statement that Robinson posted material using dehumanizing language and calling for “violence targeted at Muslims.”

Facebook says “this is not a decision we take lightly, but individuals and organizations that attack others on the basis of who they are have no place on Facebook or Instagram.”

Tommy Robinson is the pseudonym for Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. The activist, who founded the anti-Islam English Defence League, has built a large online following with links to international white nationalist and far-right movements

He told Britain’s Press Association that he’s breached no rules and that “people will be astonished by this censorship.