Britain First urges its supporters to move to fringe social media site after Twitter ban

Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen have joined social media site Gab
Nick Ansell/PA
Fiona Simpson20 December 2017

Far right group Britain First is urging followers to join a fringe social media network after its leaders were banned from Twitter.

Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen had their Twitter accounts suspended yesterday while Facebook said it would review the future of Britain First’s page.

Mr Golding then wrote a letter to social media site Gab saying the group had opened an account.

He also urged supporters to join the Texas-based network, the Guardian reported.

According to the newspaper, he wrote: “Freedom of speech is effectively suspended in Britain … Twitter and YouTube are now openly persecuting patriots and nationalists. Britain First is looking to the future and our top priority is securing our support base and being able to communicate with our followers.”

He added that the pair were “looking further afield now to up-and-coming social networks that are dedicated to free speech”.

Mr Golding hailed Gab as “the biggest social media network that prides itself on its commitment to freedom of speech”.

The email concluded: “I am proud to say that, finally, Britain First, deputy leader Jayda Fransen and myself have opened verified accounts on Gab and we are strongly urging all of our supporters to get on to this exciting new social network immediately.”

Gab’s guidelines say “the only valid form of censorship is an individual’s own choice to opt out” and stress that users can filter or remove posts they don’t want to see.

It says its policy is to follow all applicable laws in the US.

A post by Ms Fransen on Britain First’s Gab page yesterday read: "Twitter will no longer provide a platform to those who challenge political correctness, Marxism and Islam. R.I.P free speech.

Cheerio Twitter, hello Gab."

On Monday, Twitter started enforcing a new policy that bans incitements to violence and hateful images.

The new policy takes into account an individual's offline behaviour alongside their social media presence.

"Today, we are starting to enforce these policies across Twitter. In our efforts to be more aggressive here, we may make some mistakes and are working on a robust appeals process. We’ll evaluate and iterate on these changes in the coming days and weeks, and will keep you posted on progress along the way," a statement from Twitter said.

The Evening Standard has contacted Gab for comment.

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