Facebook to limit the spread of “Boogaloo” groups and pages amid protests

Facebook will limit the spread of Boogaloo related groups and pages amid the ongoing protests in the United States, according to media reports.

Boogaloo is an internet slang that refers to the idea of an impending Civil War. It has then evolved as an anti-government movement with conflicting views. The term is used in many far-right extremist groups, Reuters reported.

The social media giant will not recommend pages and groups that are related to the term to users and will also demote the same in search, the report said.

Facebook had updated its policies to ban the term and other similar terms WITH images and statements depicting armed violence last month. The decision to limit the spread of these pages was made on June 2, the Verge reported.

The news comes after a recent report by the Tech Transparency Project found the presence of 125 boogaloo groups with over 72,000 members combined on the platform.

The term and the movement is being monitored to prevent any incidents of violence especially given the ongoing protests that have escalated in the country. According to media reports, the FBI had recently charged three men with plotting violence at anti-racism protests in Las Vegas, in Boogaloo groups on Facebook.

However, according to the Reuters report, the specific terms monitored by the platform are evolving. Boogaloo groups are using modified terms such as “Big Igloo” or “Big Luau” to avoid scrutiny, while maintaining the same discussions about weaponry, future wars and conspiracy theories, the report said.

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