As of 13/07/2020
Boogaloo. A term that you might not have heard (unless you are a movie buff) until very recently. The term is currently making rounds around social media, because of the politics and controversy associated with it. So let’s see what the term means and how social media especially Facebook is dealing with it.
The term Boogaloo is associated with a far-right movement in the US which aims at starting the second Civil War. People associated with it can be seen in public rallies and movement by their distinctive apparel of Hawaiian shirts and heavy armory. The term became popular with the cult classic movie Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo. People anticipating a second Civil War used the term Civil War 2: Electric Boogaloo, and that’s how they got the name. In order to avoid censorship they often resort to using similar sounding words like boog, big igloo and big luau. Although they are associated with the far-right movement, when it comes to Nazis and the White Supremacy, there seems to be strong differences among the group. The George Floyd incident and the fatal attack on security officials in California brought them back again and this time social media platforms are not lenient regarding it. Here’s what Facebook is doing.
Facebook has prohibited any use of the term online when associated with armed violence. TikTok has also done the same. Moreover Facebook won’t be suggesting people groups related to it to the people who have a similar taste. Thus, actively demoting any content related to the movement. Facebook cannot directly ban the term as the term is pretty ambiguous. However, it would do so in cases where there is the use of the term that might incite violence. This move by Facebook places the ‘Boogaloo’ in the same bracket of ISIS and white supremacists, reported a New York Times report.
The commercial world however is not satisfied with Facebook’s steps and deems it inadequate. This can be clearly seen as major brands such as Coca Cola, Starbucks, Microsoft, Unilever are pulling out of Zuckerberg’s social media citing the rampant hate speech present there.
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