Some Save Anchorage Members Upset Over Facebook Warning

The outstanding members of the Anchorage-based Save Anchorage group are upset about a Facebook prompt asking users if they're concerned someone they know is becoming an extremist—but there's a little more to the story.

Posted to the group today by a Save Anchorage member was a screenshot taken from Facebook, which showed a post advertising an inaugural block party for Dave Bronson. Beneath the picture was a prompt asking the user whether they were concerned someone they knew was becoming an extremist.

The Facebook prompt has been seen across Facebook by many users around the country.

According to reporting on the matter—reporting that can be found with a simple web search; Facebook has been conducting a "small test" as a pilot for a global approach to prevent radicalization on its platform. The test runs only in the United States.

A second Facebook warning, also part of the "small test," has also been seen on the platform. The message informs users that they may have been "exposed to harmful extremist content recently," although the message doesn't identify what "extremist content" users "may" have been exposed to.

Interestingly, Facebook says that "the test is part of our larger work to assess ways to provide resources and support to people on Facebook who may have engaged with or were exposed to extremist content or may know someone who is at risk," according to an emailed statement the company sent to Reuters.

Facebook told Reuters that in the test, it identified users who may have been exposed to rule-breaking extremist content and users who had previously been the subject of Facebook's enforcement.

After the January 6th attempted insurrection, lawmakers and civil rights groups have pressured Facebook to combat extremism on its platform. In 2020, Facebook was hammered for failing to shut down the Facebook page of a militia group that urged armed individuals to take to the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Some Save Anchorage members didn't respond well to the extremist warning. Some called on others within the group to report "all the whacked-out Liberal assembly members starting with Dunbar."

Others within the group called for a boycott of Facebook and wrote that it was time "to move to a new platform."