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Facebook, Twitter won't ban leftists who posted video of Ted Cruz and wife being harassed at dinner
A video posted on social media depicts a leftist mob harassing Sen. Ted Cruz and his wife at a Washington, D.C., restaurant last week. (Image source: Video screenshot)

Facebook, Twitter won't ban leftists who posted video of Ted Cruz and wife being harassed at dinner

The video of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and his wife being harassed at a Washington, D.C., restaurant last week has not been taken down from the social media accounts of the leftist group that posted it.

Smash Racism DC posted links to the video showing the protesters harassing the Republican senator on Twitter and Facebook. One post called on activists to "F*** civility, fight now." Another stated that Cruz "can't eat in peace" because his "politics are an attack on all of us."

Initially, Facebook removed the video from Smash Racism DC's page, according to the group's account. The video was soon reactivated and has remained so since.

TheBlaze reached out to Facebook and Twitter to find out why the videos have been allowed on the social media platforms.

What did Facebook say?

A spokesperson at Facebook told TheBlaze that its content review team looked at the content on Smash Racism DC's page and determined it did not violate the company's policies.

Facebook's rules define hate speech as a direct attack on a person or group based on "race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, caste, sex, gender, gender identity, and serious disease or disability."

While the group's posts and videos may contain content that objectionable, Facebook said it allows freedom of voice and the posts are not in violation of its rules.

The spokesperson also told TheBlaze that political conversations are allowed and it doesn't remove content unless it finds credible calls for violence or hate.

What did Twitter say?

TheBlaze asked Twitter why it didn't determine the video posted by Smash Racism DC to be in violation of Twitter's safety rules.

"Users can report to our teams anytime and we will review the material and take action — where appropriate — pursuant to our Rules," a Twitter spokesman responded in an email to TheBlaze. "As noted by Jack in his extensive public testimony, we enforce our Rules dispassionately and not on ideological or political grounds."

According to Twitter's website, "You may not promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease. We also do not allow accounts whose primary purpose is inciting harm toward others on the basis of these categories."

"Behavior that will not be tolerated includes, but is not limited to behavior that harasses individuals or groups of people with: violent threats, wishes for physical harm, death, or disease of individuals or groups," the Twitter rules state.

Have other groups or pages been banned or suspended from social media?

In August, Facebook, YouTube, Spotify, and Apple iTunes either banned, suspended or removed content from the accounts belonging to conspiracy theorist Alex Jones of InfoWars for violating community standards.

A Facebook spokesperson said some videos posted by Jones and InfoWars were removed because they encouraged physical harm and attacked people based on religion.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey sparked outrage among some users when his company didn't follow suit immediately.

A short time later, the platform issued a permanent ban to the conspiracy theorist, Reuters reported.

“As we continue to increase transparency around our rules and enforcement actions, we wanted to be open about this action, given the broad interest in this case,” Twitter wrote in a tweet. “We do not typically comment on enforcement actions we take against individual accounts for their privacy.”

In August, Twitter banned CRTV host and comedian Gavin McInnes for violating the company's policy "prohibiting violent extremist groups."

“I was banned … and I was told it was for condoning violence. I put out a video of my last 20 tweets, there’s no violence in there," McInnes told Glenn Beck in an interview following the ban. "In fact, the only thing that’s political, really, is me disavowing Unite the Right, saying I don’t want anything to do with that.

“I think what’s really going on here is Proud Boys have been successful in protecting speakers from Antifa, and we actually enjoy it, God forbid. And that’s been seen as condoning violence,” he added.

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