Facebook bans 'white nationalism,' 'separatism'

March 27 (UPI) -- Facebook announced Wednesday that "white nationalist" and "white separatist" accounts will no longer be allowed on the social web platform.

The company made the announcement after meeting with civil rights groups and other experts. It said the ban also applies to its photo-sharing platform Instagram.

Facebook has faced sustained criticism for months that complained it hadn't done enough to eliminate hate speech on the network. The move comes two weeks after shootings at two New Zealand mosques killed 50 people, in which the accused gunman is believed to be a white nationalist.

Facebook had previously banned "white supremacy" on its network, but a Motherboard investigation found "white nationalism" and "white separatism" were still showing up on the platform.

"We're announcing a ban on praise, support and representation of white nationalism and separatism on Facebook and Instagram, which we'll start enforcing next week," Facebook wrote on its blog.

"It's clear that these concepts are deeply linked to organized hate groups and have no place on our services."

Facebook said it originally viewed white separatism and nationalism in broader terms.

"But over the past three months our conversations with members of civil society and academics who are experts in race relations around the world have confirmed that white nationalism and separatism cannot be meaningfully separated from white supremacy and organized hate groups," the company added.

Facebook says it has more than two billion users worldwide and a list of rules that determine what content is removed.