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Facebook, Instagram remove accounts of white supremacist James Allsup

The Washington-based white supremacist has also been demonetized by YouTube, though his account remains up.

Facebook, Instagram remove accounts of white supremacist James Allsup
Facebook and Instagram have suspended the accounts of yet another white supremacist. (PHOTO CREDIT: NURPHOTO / GETTY)

Facebook and Instagram suspended the accounts of 23-year-old white supremacist James Allsup last week, the latest move to tamp down fascistic language spreading across the platforms in recent years.

ThinkProgress first discovered that Allsup’s accounts were unavailable during a search of both social media sites over the weekend. Allsup also confirmed he’d been suspended in a video last Tuesday.

The move follows a similar decision from Uber and from Twitter, which suspended Allsup’s account in late 2017.

Allsup’s YouTube account, which currently has over 450,000 followers, remains up. However, according to Allsup, it has been “demonetized,” meaning that his videos can no longer generate revenue via ads on YouTube. His videos will no longer be recommended.

According to Allsup, the move to demonetize his videos has led to a “significant” financial hit.

A spokesperson for Facebook told ThinkProgress that they removed Allsup’s accounts “for violating our policies against dangerous organizations and individuals.” Google, which oversees YouTube, did not respond to ThinkProgress’ requests for comment on the matter.

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The suspension and demonetization is the latest embarrassment for the Washington state-based white supremacist. After being elected as a precinct committee officer in Washington’s Whitman County last year — a position for which Allsup ran unopposed — the Whitman County Republican Central Committee voted unanimously in January to boot Allsup from its ranks. While he retains his technical title as precinct officer, he has been stripped of any actual powers that come with the position.

Allsup’s white supremacist beliefs aren’t difficult to discern. He not only marched alongside a “pro-white” group in the deadly 2017 rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, but, as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) wrote earlier in August, he has since spoken at “several white supremacist conferences” as well.

Allsup has also claimed membership with the white supremacist Identity Evropa group, encouraging other members of the group to join local Republican Party institutions. (Allsup is a former head of Washington State University’s College Republican chapter.)

The move comes in the aftermath of America’s deadliest anti-immigrant terror attack in years, in El Paso, Texas. Despite this, numerous white supremacist channels like Allsup’s remain up on YouTube, even after the company issued an update to its policies in June, stating specifically that it would prohibit white supremacist ideologies on its platform.

 

As the ADL wrote last week, “a significant number of channels on YouTube’s platform continue to disseminate anti-Semitic and white supremacist content … even after the policy update.”

Allsup’s channel was included in its list of examples.