U.S. Border Patrol agents are under fire for posting
offensive messages in a “secret” Facebook group
that included sexually explicit posts about U.S.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and dismissive
references to the deaths of migrants in U.S.
custody. The existence of that group was reported
by ProPublica. Prior to that, few people outside
the group had ever heard of it.
Facebook enforces complex guidelines against
hate speech, abuse and other categories
when it comes to users’ posts to their friends
or to the public. Here’s a look at how the social
network handles similarly offensive material
when it’s posted inside the more private
corners of the service, in the online gatherings
known as “groups.”
WHAT’S A SECRET FACEBOOK GROUP?
Facebook groups are exactly what they sound
like — collections of individual users who gather
on the company’s platform to discuss hobbies,
tell jokes, educate or support one another, plan