Facebook announced on Saturday, Sept. 12 that it would start its purging or removal of fake news related to the cause of the ongoing Oregon wildfire. Those posts or news articles referring to extremists groups like the controversial Antifa as the cause of the fire will all be removed from the platform to curb false claims. Here is why.
Facebook starts its purging again!
One thing that was common on these false claims is the suggestion that politically motivated arsonists such as the Antifa group were the ones behind the said incident.
Rumor even spread out that local police arrested six members from the left-wing group as suspects behind the fire. However, this was purely false, according to the police.
"Rumors spread just like wildfire, and now our 9-1-1 dispatchers and professional staff are being overrun with requests for information and inquiries on an UNTRUE rumor that 6 Antifa members have been arrested for setting fires," the Douglas County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. "THIS IS NOT TRUE! Unfortunately, people are spreading this rumor, and it is causing problems."
The Medford Police Department also flagged a specific post saying that they arrested five arsonists connected with the far-right Proud Boys.
The FBI's Portland division already released a statement saying that all the extremist groups mentioned were investigated but turned out to be all false. No members of any of these groups were arrested nor possible suspects on the said arson crime.
Reports that extremists are setting wildfires in Oregon are untrue. Help us stop the spread of misinformation by only sharing information from trusted, official sources. pic.twitter.com/ENc4c3kjep — FBI Portland (@FBIPortland) September 11, 2020
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Jamie Pancho
