Facebook has officially shut down “Stop the Steal,” a pro-Trump group that had amassed more than 364,000 members in less than 48 hours, for promoting election disinformation regarding the ongoing vote count.
With protests against the number of votes ongoing in several US cities, Facebook tells TIME that it removed the group on Thursday for “disturbing calls to violence”.
“In line with the exceptional measures we are taking during this period of heightened tension, we have removed the ‘Stop the Steal’ group, which was creating real-world events,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. “The group was organized around the delegitimization of the electoral process, and we have seen worrying calls for violence from some members of the group.”
The group, what seemed to be bound to the pro-Trump organization Women for America First, as well as to the Tea Party, was created in the wake of President Donald Trump falsely claiming that he had defeated Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden during a speech from the Hall East of the White House. after 2 am ET on Wednesday morning.
As state and local election officials continued to count votes across the country in the days following Election Day, Trump continued to post. false and misleading tweets, in which he made unfounded allegations about voter fraud in key states. Many of these tweets have been flagged by Twitter for containing disputed or misleading information. The description of the “Stop the Steal” group on Facebook appeared to refer to Trump’s claims.
“Democrats are stepping in to disenfranchise and nullify Republican votes. It’s up to us, the American People, to fight back and put a stop to it,” the page read. “Together with President Trump, we will do whatever is necessary to ensure the integrity of this election for the good of the nation.”
Posts on the page were full of misinformation, including unsubstantiated claims that election workers were throwing out ballots or that voters in Maricopa County, Arizona were encouraged to vote with Sharpies that would render their ballots unreadable.
The “Stop the Steal” movement has also spread on Twitter, with some pro-Trump users tagging their posts with the corresponding hashtag.
