Facebook is banning a number of controversial far-right figures for violating its policies on hate speech and promoting violence.
American radio show host Alex Jones , former editor of Breitbart News, Milo Yiannopoulos , and American political activist Laura Loomer have all been banned from Facebook and Instagram .
Religious leader Louis Farrakhan, who is known for sharing anti-Semitic views, Paul Nehlen, a white nationalist who ran for Congress in 2018, and conspiracy theorist Paul Joseph Watson have also had their accounts suspended.
"We've always banned individuals or organisations that promote or engage in violence and hate, regardless of ideology," Facebook said in a statement.
"The process for evaluating potential violators is extensive and it is what led us to our decision to remove these accounts today."
As well as banning their official accounts, Facebook said it would take down any accounts set up in their likeness, as well as any events these individuals were participating in.
Any fan pages that promote InfoWars - a media site run by Alex Jones that peddles conspiracy theories and fake news - will also be removed. The InfoWars page itself was shut down in August.
Despite announcing the news on Thursday, some of the affected accounts remained available for some time after the Facebook released its official statement.
Yiannopoulos, who had more than 400,000 followers on Instagram, used the delay to ask his followers to sign up for his mailing list, before his account disappeared from the platform moments later.
The move comes after Facebook banned around a dozen far-right individuals and organisations in the UK last month, including the English Defence League (EDL), Knights Templar International and Britain First.
EDL founder Tommy Robinson's account was also suspended back in February.
"This is not a decision we take lightly, but individuals and organisations that attack others on the basis of who they are have no place on Facebook or Instagram," the social network said at the time.
Facebook isn't the only online platform to take action against far-right figures for promoting hate speech.
Infowars was banned by Apple, YouTube and Twitter last summer, and both Loomer and Yiannopoulos have been banned by Twitter.
Meanwhile, Tommy Robinson has been banned from Twitter and Snapchat, and had severe restrictions placed on his YouTube account.
