Facebook says it’ll REMOVE all posts alleging Oregon fires ‘were started by certain groups’

“We are removing false claims that the wildfires in Oregon were started by certain groups,” Andy Stone, Policy Communications Manager at Facebook, tweeted late on Saturday.

Defending what is effectively an act of censorship by the social media giant, Stone noted that the speculations that the blazes have been ignited by extremists are forcing the law enforcement to “divert resources from fighting the fires and protecting the public.”

This is consistent with our past efforts to remove content that could lead to imminent harm given the possible risk to human life as the fires rage on

The move comes as multiple wildfires are tearing through Oregon, closing in on Portland, the centre of Black Lives Matter protests, which have been marred by vandalism and arson, among others.

The wildfires sparked mass evacuation in the state, forcing over 40,000 people to flee their homes due to the blaze. As of Saturday, at least 10 people lost their lives to the calamity, and dozens are missing.

The fire has already left a trail of destruction behind it, having burned over 1 million acres across the state, twice as much as the yearly average, the Oregonian reported.

As the fires are being referred to as “historic” in terms of the number of conflagrations and the estimated damage, speculations arose that foul play might be involved, with rumours circulating online that antifa or BLM activists could be behind the fires.

On Friday, the FBI sought to shut down those rumours, saying that they had “investigated several such reports” and determined them “to be untrue.” In its message, the FBI urged the public to “help us stop the spread of misinformation.” 

Also on rt.com FBI says reports of Antifa arson in Oregon are ‘CONSPIRACY THEORIES,’ but someone is starting fires

While some of the rumours might be lacking any basis, there have been reports stemming from the law enforcement itself that several arsonists were nabbed in the area within the last week or so.

On Friday, a man was charged with multiple counts of arson after allegedly igniting a wildfire near Phoenix in southern Oregon. Another man was arrested in central Oregon on Tuesday on suspicion of sparking fire that had ravaged some 400 acres of land. There is nothing to suggest, though, that any of these alleged arsons were politically motivated.

Facebook has recently ramped up its crackdown on what it deems disinformation or “fake news”, drawing backlash from critics, arguing that by silencing certain opinions like messages in support of Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenshouse or alternative takes on the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s acting as a publisher and not as a platform it claims to be.

Last month, the company reported that it removed some 7 million posts for “coronavirus misinformation” between March and June.

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