Toronto Star via Getty Images
Faith Goldy ran to be the mayor of Toronto
- A Facebook spokesperson told the Huffington Post that a video posted by far-right figure Faith Goldy does not contravene its new ban on white nationalism.
- The video claims that white populations in white-majority European and Western countries are being rapidly replaced by non-white people.
- The conspiracy theory that white populations are being squeezed out by non-white ethnic groups is a white nationalist trope.
Facebook has rejected one of the first challenges to its new rules banning white nationalism.
A Facebook spokesperson told the Huffington Post that a video, which rails against non-white populations "invading" European and Western countries, doesn't fall under the company's new ban on white nationalism.
The video, entitled "Race Against Time," was posted by Canadian far-right figure Faith Goldy. Framed as a plea for the conservation of white Europeans, and aping animal welfare appeals in tone, the video says white populations in countries like the UK, Sweden, Germany, Canada, and the US are being replaced by non-white ones.
Towards the beginning of the video, text on the screen reads "European extinction is imminent." Goldy later says: "Non-European peoples are both legally and illegally invading their [Europeans'] natural habitat." She also claims that an influx of "non-Europeans" has led to, "mass rape epidemics and a spectacle of terrorism."
At the end of the video, Goldy says: "For the simple gift of a wall, or an end to dirt-right citizenship, or pro-natal policy, you can symbolically adopt this European." The footage then cuts to a smiling white woman giving an "OK" hand gesture.
A hoax which spread in 2017 led some to believe that the "OK" gesture was a white nationalist symbol, but in reality, it was more often used to troll or trick people into believing it was a genuine hate symbol.
At the time of writing, the video has more than 14,000 views. In the description for the video, Goldy describes herself as a "staunch black nationalist," in what the Huffington Post interpreted as a wink to Facebook's new crackdown on white nationalism.
Goldy, who in 2018 ran to be the mayor of Toronto, has previously vaunted "ethno-nationalism," and during an interview in 2017 recited "the 14 words," a popular white nationalist slogan.
Facebook announced in March that it was banning white nationalism and white separatism from its platform. The social media giant's director of counterterrorism policy, Brian Fishman, told Motherboard that the movements could not be "meaningfully separated from white supremacy and organized hate groups."
However, a Facebook spokesman told the Huffington Post that Goldy's video did not qualify as white nationalism, nor could it be said to promote or praise white nationalism. According to the Huffington Post, the spokesperson said that the video offered a "discussion about immigration and ethnicity statistics."
Facebook was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Business Insider.
The idea that white populations are being systematically replaced by non-white people is a cornerstone of much white nationalist thinking. The suspected gunman behind the Christchurch massacre in New Zealand last month, which left 50 Muslim worshippers dead, promoted the conspiracy theory of "white genocide" in a manifesto. He also identified himself as an ethno-nationalist.