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Right-wing group Britain First calls Facebook 'fascist' after fan page banned by mistake
The far-right group's page was briefly banned for violating rules, but was restored after Facebook said it had been taken down 'in error'
Britain First, a far-right group that opposes immigration and brands itself a "patriotic resistance and 'frontline' for our long suffering people", accused Facebook of fascism after its page on the social network was briefly taken down.
The group saw its page briefly taken down for violating rules on Monday, with a message saying its page had been "unpublished" and that Facebook does not tolerate hate speech.
However, the page was subsequently re-published. "The page was removed in error but has now been restored," a Facebook spokesman said.
The Facebook page is known for publishing anti-immigrant, and pro-army and Christian messages on Facebook, with its fan page receiving more than 1.1 million "likes". However, it has also generated a backlash, with an opposition page, "Exposing Britain First", becoming popular.
Before the page was restored, Britain First's leader, the former BNP communications chief Paul Golding, said: "Facebook has launched a fascist attack on a registered, legal British political party on the verge of a major election campaign." .
A screenshot of the message from Facebook appeared to show that Britain First had been declared in breach of Facebook's community standards.
"While people can use Facebook to challenge ideas, institutions and practices, Facebook removes hate speech," the message said.
"Hate speech includes content that directly attacks people based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, sex, gender or gender identity, or serious disabilities or diseases."
Britain First's mission statement declares: "Britain First is a patriotic political party and street defence organisation that opposes and fights the many injustices that are routinely inflicted on the British people.
"Our policies are pro-British, our approach is no-nonsense and our principles are not open to compromise".
It says it wants "our people to come first, before foreigners, asylum seekers or migrants."
Britain First was founded in 2011, and its Facebook page has become more popular than many mainstream political parties, although it uses tactics such as sharing photos of animal cruelty with messages such as "like and share if you demand far harsher penalties for those who mistreat animals".
It fielded a candidate in last year's Rochester and Strood by-election, but came ninth with 56 votes.