₦airaland Forum

For the "noisemakers" aka IPOB

Facebook on Thursday took down Trump campaign ads against antifa that prominently featured a symbol used by Nazis to designate political prisoners, a spokesperson for the company confirmed to The Hill.

“We removed these posts and ads for violating our policy against organized hate," Facebook said in a statement. "Our policy prohibits using a banned hate group's symbol to identify political prisoners without the context that condemns or discusses the symbol.”

The ads featured an inverted red triangle, which was used by Nazis to identify political opponents including communists, social democrats and liberals at concentration camps.

The symbol was included in 88 ads run by pages for President Trump, Vice President Pence and "Team Trump" alongside text warning readers of “Dangerous MOBS of far-left groups" and asking them to sign a petition against antifa, a loose group of radical activists that use direct action to fight against fascism.

Just the ads on Trump's page were seen as many 950,000 times before being taken down.

The Trump campaign is defending using the image, calling it a "common Antifa symbol" in a statement to The Hill.

The campaign directed The Hill toward shirts, stickers and posters on websites were users can upload whatever design they would like to.

The most common symbol used to identify antifa is a black and red flag or three arrows inside a circle.

Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, tweeted Thursday that "Nazis used red triangles to identify their political victims in concentration camps.

"Using it to attack political opponents is highly offensive," Greenblatt said. "@POTUS' campaign needs to learn its history, as ignorance is no excuse for using Nazi-related symbols."

The Nazis used red triangles to identify their political victims in concentration camps. Using it to attack political opponents is highly offensive. @POTUS' campaign needs to learn its history, as ignorance is no excuse for using Nazi-related symbols. https:///7R7aGLD7kl

— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) June 18, 2020
Bend The Arc: Jewish Action, a progressive advocacy group, similarly condemned the use of the symbol.

"This isn’t just one post," it wrote on Twitter. "This is dozens of carefully targeted ads from the official pages of Mike Pence, Donald Trump, and Team Trump. All paid for by Trump and the Republican National Committee. All spreading lies and genocidal imagery."

This isn’t just one post.

This is dozens of carefully targeted ads from the official pages of Mike Pence, Donald Trump, and Team Trump.

All paid for by Trump and the Republican National Committee. All spreading lies and genocidal imagery. pic.twitter.com/kfgihVZQr2

— Bend the Arc: Jewish Action (@jewishaction) June 18, 2020
Facebook has previously been criticized for its hands-off approach to political advertising, which it declines to fact check. These posts, however, were removed for violating the platform's organized hate policy.

Bend the Arc and Media Matters for America both pointed out that the ad was run exactly 88 times across the three accounts. The number is a well-known white supremacist code for “Heil Hitler,” with “H” being the eighth letter of the alphabet.

88 ads from the Trump campaign with a Nazi symbol targeting political opponents.

88 is a white supremacist code for “Heil Hitler.”

This isn’t a dog whistle, it’s a bullhorn — and an attempt to incite violence against Black-led uprisings. https:///jqsyul7TFR

— Bend the Arc: Jewish Action (@jewishaction) June 18, 2020
Additionally, the first sentence of the ad has 14 words, a number that is used as shorthand for a famous white supremacist slogan and often combined with 88.

It is entirely possible that the numbers of ads and words in their first sentence are a coincidence, and the Trump campaign declined to comment.

This is not the first time that Trump and his campaign have been accused of using fascist dog whistles. Just last week, while tweeting about officials dispersing protesters, the president abbreviated the U.S. Secret Service to S.S., the common shorthand for the Nazi Party’s paramilitary Schutzstaffel.

During the 2016 election, Trump tweeted an image of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in front of piles of money next to a Star of David. He defended the image as meant to represent a sheriff's star but ultimately replaced it with a circle.

https://thehill.com/policy/technology/503421-facebook-takes-down-trump-ads-featuring-symbol-used-by-nazis-to-mark

Uchek:
The Igbos will never fight Yorubas if they decide to secede. We will take a "siddon look" approach unlike Yorubas who joined the North to fight Biafra and kill Igbos and their fellow Easterner brothers.

Liar!!! We know you guys are waiting to do your own back!

BlowYourMind:
No I am not obsessed about igbos, my gorgeous ex was igbo,I have been on this platform since 2015, I have to deactivate the account, I don't really care until about 12 igbos came together to scam me in Alaba market, non of them can even tell the others that what they are doing is not right, support each others in crime, even a cripple! that magnitude of Yoruba will never be united in crime to that extend, one of the them will chicken out that will destroy their plan, that invariably shows that they are wicked and heartless, it is in their blood, I wish I can grant them biafra, they are deadlier than serpent

We think alike! I wish our politicians should allow Igbo people have a referendum. Let's see if they are all interested in their Biafra. Honestly, they are distracting the whole nation.

JonDon12:
What have Ibos ever done to you guys, we come to your lands. Buy land from your sons and develop it. Build markets. Use your ports. Bring commerce and development to your lands. We supported your son Jonathan. You are the ones that betrayed us during the Biafran war and then stole our property. We forgave but you are still attacking us. That is why when bad things happen to you guys, I don't feel too bad because I know you created it by your actions

How noble of you! Why didn't you take the development to your region? Why another person's land? You argue as if you are talking to braindead kids! I challenge you lot to tell your people "developing" other people's land to come home and develop their land.

The thing I dislike most on Nairaland is when some sick Igbo guy makes a stupld comment and alot of people like such comment. I am like, could we have this amount of people that hate others this much? Even if some of those likes are fake, I am certain a lot of it comes from real demented people. You get served what you dish to others -- the law of karma.

LabDNA:
No yoruba man will EVER be president before an Igbo man in this country. You guy hardly even win elections, you've been failing elections since the days of Awolowo, go and check records.

yorubas are not qualified to teach anyone how to win elections in this country.

Hopefully you guys wouldn't have chickened out of Nigeria, let's wait till then.

And why did she leave your family in the first place? Something is wrong somewhere!

LabDNA:
You yorubas shouted 'Igbo will never be president' since 1970s till date. We decided to do a remix of your song and promote 'yoruba will not be president until Igbo takes their turn' you started crying and kicking.

You love injustice when it happens to others but cry only when it happens.

You see how the shoes pains in the leg?

Until an Igbo man takes his RIGHTFUL at national leadership, yoruba have no business running this country. You were assuaged with OBJ after the MKO saga.

If you think the East are fools and should continue crying while you mock them, then you are in for a very long think.

In 2023, your heads will be used to break coconuts that you will not partake in the eating, since injustice against the East dey sweet una like ogufe and gbegiri.

Start embracing justice, fairness and truth. That's not too much to ask.

Are you guys not interested in your Biafra again?

No one would hand you power you have to earn it. Cheap blackmail wouldn't work on anyone! The fact is that a SS person stands a higher chance of getting both the PDP and APC tickets in 2023 than SE. See where you guys have put yourselves. Stop the hating and mend fences, my honest advice.

FlordFlorez:
I dont get o. The last time i check, Nigeria has 253 tribes. How did u list over 300+ for North only?

Because officially Hausa tribe claim other minor tribes for themselves. Those tribes speak Hausa language but they also have their own distinct language too.

Igbo nation begging a single man! Shame! Shame!! Shame!!!

Thastie:
I am a Muslim. My tribe is Yoruba.
The first time I heard about Muric is on Nairaland. Nairaland made him popular. I listen to plenty Islamic lectures both from Scholars in Nigeria and outside Nigeria cos I am learning more about my religion and I have never come across Muric lectures. I belonged to MSSN in my school, and none has spoken of Muric.

The first time I saw "Yoruba Muslim" was on Nairaland. And it was started by all these ibos.

My point is, keep creating eminity but I hope sensible Yorubas will not buy into it. My mother is a Christian, my sister is a Christian, my nieces and nephews are Christians. I have both Muslims and Christians cousins. This is very common in most Yoruba families.

I'm sure most Muslims on the street do not know Muric.

You are wasting your time with the kind people on Nairaland. I have come to understand that many have a sick mind. Their heros are either criminals or lunatics like FFK, that Kemi woman and the Muric man.

See the likes they gave to a stupld and sick comments that encourage crime against their people and the country at large: https://www.nairaland.com/5909039/diezani-allison-madueke-commissioner-dominican-republic

Now why do you take them seriously? Stop being defensive, but attack them.

Am not with them o!!!

Good day, this an informal notice to you that a mod/mods is stalking me and delete my posts and threads. I created a thread ( https://www.nairaland.com/5912581/why-se-poorest-south ) and these persons deleted it on two occasions despite a mod restoring it. My hope you get this message. Thank you.

Seun Mynd44

Afrocentric:
Same way Buhari supporter's are praising him for nothing

Stop excusing crime! Snapshot a thread that any of Buhari's supporters praise him when a bad thing happens in the North? It is just senseless! Rather, what you would see is that they wait for Buhari to do something good and them praise/hype him thereafter. Now let me ask you, why praise her in a thread where she impoverished us? Is that not stupidity?

Please, you people should stop being sentimental about everything!

TripleOh7:
Not civil. I think Nnamdi Kanu might actually be dead. He's the one that fuels so much hate.

You have a point.

TripleOh7:
Instead of you to do something about the incessant killings in your domain, you are running around crying wolf.

How I wish leaders of the West, east and middle belt regions can apply the pressure of secession at the same time on Nigeria.

There's no way Nigeria can survive that kind of pressure.

But the IPOB/Biafra of the east would rather insult and curse other tribes than work with them.

This was my problem with them, but I think they have changed tactics now. They are becoming civil their conduct.