Activist outrage has exploded following the decision of Facebook, run by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, to remove pages and events related to the "No Unite the Right 2- DC," on the grounds that a page related to the protests may have been created by adversarial and inauthentic "bad actors," a term increasingly used to designate anyone online who promotes ideas outside the political consensus in the US and Europe.
No real explanation is given at all for the removal of the pages, other than fear-mongering statements that a dastardly plot was supposedly unleashed to get people to attend a protest against white supremacists and alt-right frontmen who have been known to attack and even kill anti-racists like Heather Heyer. Promises to "release more data later," were foreshadowed by assessments that those involved in making them used VPNs and other tools, making them "more sophisticated" than previous alleged efforts by Russia to sway online political discourse.
The idea that "No Unite The Right 2" is some kind of Russian plot is a sick joke that falls flat immediately. The event has been promoted almost entirely by anarchists, perhaps the strongest and most consistent opponents of Putin and Russia on the left, far more active in denouncing FSB repression of activists than perhaps anyone else in the west, including neoconservatives. If anything, the use of a VPN could even indicate that Russian dissidents, tortured and electroshocked by their government, are trying to reach out in support to left-wing activists in America, many of whom see Trump and the far-right white supremacist forces (who the counter-protestors oppose) as fascistic in line with Putin and other strongmen like Italy's Salvini and Erodgan's Turkey.
More likely, however, such technologies were used by American activists wishing to prevent surveillance and targeted repression by the government and the alt-right Trump administration. In any case, it is plainly xenophobic to assume that "foreigners" or "bad actors" have malicious intent and wish to stir up trouble in America. International solidarity has been a guiding principle of the left since its inception. Are international political networks like the European Left Party and left-wing multilingual websites such as the World Socialist Website, ContraInfo and Gatorna "bad" for Americans and attempts to "meddle?"
Perhaps most disturbing is Facebook's reliance on the Atlantic Council to highlight who is a "bad actor." The Atlantic Council is a corporate-military think tank funded by multinational corporations such as Chevron, BP, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Coca-Cola, the US Chamber of Commerce, Exxon, and JPMorgan Chase, as well as the Turkish and Israeli governments. To groups like these, "bad actors" clearly include protestors against corporate globalisation, militarism, racism, and genocide. The Atlantic Council has cooperated to produce reports accusing left-wing politicians and activists "stooges" of the Kremlin, including critics of Putin like Yanis Varoufakis and green groups.
The decision to target anti-fascist events is also blatantly hypocritical and selective, as Zuckerberg admitted that he would not delete Holocaust denial statements.Left-wing people of all stripes must realise that attempts to conflate activism- including anti-fracking, Black Lives Matter, Seebrucke, and more with disinformation and a desire by, among liberals, Putin - and on the far-right, George Soros- must not be tolerated and should be denounced wherever it occurs. We must also build our own platforms, from websites like Enough Is Enough! and remaining Indymedia affiliates to print publications and radio shows such as Media Roots and Chapo Trap House. It is no longer possible- and indeed, dangerous, to rely on Facebook any longer.