Facebook to remove Brian Tamaki 'hate speech' advert which questions opening of Auckland Muslim school
Tuesday, 18 June 2019
Facebook has pledged to remove an advert containing 'hate speech' by Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki which questions the expansion of a Muslim school.
The sponsored post was a paid-for advert which appeared on Facebook users' accounts, even if they did not follow Tamaki. One user described the post as heinous and full of hate speech after he found it on his timeline.
The post, which was published on June 13, also featured a Stuff article about the opening of a new Muslim school in Auckland.
A Facebook spokeswoman confirmed on Tuesday the sponsored post would be removed saying: 'The ad is coming down'.
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Spokesman Ben McConaghy said it had community standards which outlined what was and wasn't allowed on Facebook - but it had higher standards when it came to ads.
'Our advertising policies are more restrictive because they take paid distribution. These policies clearly state that ads must not contain discriminatory content and we will remove any violating ads as soon as we become aware of them,' McConaghy said.
'In this instance, the sponsored content breaches our ads policies and we have now prevented this post from being distributed as an ad on our platform.'
Facebook's action came after the contents of the post were flagged to the social media site by Stuff.
Following the Christchurch attack, Facebook said it would crack down on hate speech and livestreaming.
The attack was livestreamed and widely shared on Facebook.
Tamaki has previously spoken out against Muslims, tweeting his objection to the national broadcast of the call to prayer, following the Christchurch terror attack.
Ikhlaq Kashkari of the New Zealand Muslim Association said Tamaki was a controversial figure and with the announcement of his new political party, led by wife Hannah Tamaki, he was trying to appeal to a certain type of voter.
'I don't think the vast majority of New Zealanders would support his views on what he is saying,' Kashkari said.
'We've seen all that from the recent events, all that love and aroha that New Zealand as a community has shown.
'There's no place in New Zealand for something like that. If he wants to go into politics, he better come up with some good policies rather than this type of speech.'
The post questioned the Muslim school's expansion and said 'we cannot accept the proliferation of Islam in our country'.
He also said he would not be surprised if the Government was funding other 'Islamic related activities'.
'We cannot … think just because you're tolerant, accepting and inclusive that we won't end up like Great Britain, South East Asia, and most of Europe with violence, loss of the host country's identity, their values and culture destroyed, and Sharia Law enacted.'
In the post, Tamaki said he was simply using free speech to express his opinions.
But an outraged Facebook user, who said the post popped up as an ad on his timeline, said it was hate speech.
'It is a heinous ad full of ignorance and the same ideas as the Christchurch attacker,' the man said.
He said it promoted racism online and incited hatred. He was shocked that Facebook had allowed the post on its site.
A spokeswoman for the Advertising Standards Authority said it had yet to receive a complaint about the post.
However, if any complaints were received, they would be put forward to the complaints board chairman for review.