Facebook is changing its hate speech policy to ban “Let’s go Brandon.”
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No, Facebook isn’t changing its policies to ban ‘Let’s go Brandon’
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- Facebook isn’t changing its hate speech policy to ban "Let’s go Brandon."
As an NBC Sports reporter recently interviewed NASCAR driver Brandon Brown, she noted that the crowd could be heard chanting, "Let’s go, Brandon!"
In reality, those NASCAR fans were booing the president: "F--- Joe Biden."
A new anti-Biden slogan was born. Not far behind were claims that governments and social media companies are trying to censor the phrase.
We’ve already debunked a claim that the Canadian government threatened to fire any employee who used "Let’s go Brandon" in communications. Now some social media users are claiming that Facebook is going to change its hate speech policy to include the phrase.
"BREAKING: Facebook to change its hate speech policy to include posts that say ‘Let’s go Brandon. ‘This while thing has gone far enough. It’s offensive and really mean,’ said a top executive at the social media company," a screenshot of a tweet says, misspelling "whole."
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This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
The tweet that’s pictured comes from an account that notes it posts satire. But some people are unsure if it’s a joke.
"Is this a joke?" one person replied. "I can’t find it anywhere and I literally can’t tell satire from reality anymore."
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"Breaking news," someone else wrote, sharing the screenshot on Facebook. "Whether or not this is true remains to be seen, but Facebook is reportedly changing their hate speech policy."
Facebook did not respond to PolitiFact’s questions about the claim, but the company told Reuters it didn’t change its hate speech policy to bar this phrase. Neither "Let’s go Brandon" nor "F--- Joe Biden" violates the policy, Facebook said.
The hate speech policy is online, and it doesn’t mention Biden or "Let’s go Brandon." And there are no credible reports online that Facebook has changed or is going to change the policy to ban the phrase.
We rate claims that it is False.
Our Sources
Facebook post, Oct. 20, 2021
Facebook post, Oct. 19, 2021
Tweet, Oct. 19, 2021
PolitiFact, Canada did not ban use of ‘Let’s go Brandon,’ as fake memo claimed, Oct. 20, 2021
Reuters, Fact Check - Facebook did not change its hate speech policy to include the phrase "Let’s go Brandon," Oct. 22, 2021
Facebook, Hate speech policy, visited Oct. 22, 2021
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More by Ciara O'Rourke
No, Facebook isn’t changing its policies to ban ‘Let’s go Brandon’
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