ONR march, Poland
ONR march, PolandReuters

The heads of the Facebook social network announced that they had decided to close the Facebook profiles of a number of Polish rightist organizations after detecting harsh anti-Semitic writings.

In a statement on community activity conditions, Facebook announced that "we prohibit the presence of organizations that violate our regulations on our platform. We believe such organizations openly promote racist views, anti-Semitism, and fear of others. It was not an easy decision, because we encourage people to express personal opinions, make connections, and share thoughts. But we also want people to always feel safe and welcome."

In recent days Facebook has closed the pages of several Polish organizations, including the National Radical Camp (ONR), whose members are considered particularly nationalist and who used to march on Polish Independence Day carrying signs condemning Jews and other minorities.

ONR marchers, Poland
ONR marchers, PolandReuters

In recent months, Facebook users have received numerous messages from surfers in Poland about anti-Semitic manifestations on pages operated by ONR members and other rightist organizations. According to the reports, harsh statements were made against members of minorities on the basis of race, sex, and religion.

The heads of ONR contacted the Prime Minister's Office and the Foreign Ministry in Warsaw for assistance against Facebook. According to the Polish organization's heads this is unjustified censorship. "Cruel censorship and drastic restriction of pluralism of public debate, urgent government intervention is needed!", wrote National Radical Camp President Robert Vinitsky.