Facebook blocks creation of events near Capitol Hill, White House ahead of Jan 20

Facebook on January 15 said it is blocking the creation of any new events near the US Capitol Hill building, the White House, and other state capitol buildings as a precautionary measure ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of President-elect Joe Biden. The tech giant said that its operation center is conducting a secondary review of all Facebook events related to the inauguration day and is taking action against the ones violating its policies. Facebook further added that it is blocking non-US based accounts from creating events in the US as it did before the presidential election. 

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Facebook working 24/7

Facebook on January 11 published the original set of measures in the wake of the last week's US Capitol Hill insurrection. Facebook said it is removing content containing phrases such as "stop the steal" from its platforms in order to ensure the safe transfer of power on January 20. The particular phrase mentioned by Facebook was widely used by President Donald Trump and his supporters after the election, alleging election fraud, and irregularities. 

Read: Facebook To Take Down Pro-Trump Posts Like 'Stop The Steal' Ahead Of Biden's Inauguration

"Our teams are working 24/7 to enforce our policies around the inauguration. We will keep our Integrity Operations Center operating at least through January 22 to monitor and respond to threats in real-time. We already had it active ahead of Georgia’s runoff elections and Congress’s counting of the Electoral College votes in the US presidential election. We extended it due to the violence at the Capitol last week," Facebook said in a blogpost. 

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Trump is accused of inciting the crowd that laid siege on the Capitol Hill building last week while a joint session to certify Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' win was underway. Five people, including a DC police officer, died during the insurrection. Since then, at least 7,000 National Guards have been deployed in Washington DC to help Capitol police with the security preparations ahead of inauguration day. 

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