No fascism on Facebook:
Stop the BNP

Bryony Shanks, Womens’ Officer, Sheffield University

Over the summer Unite Against Fascism (UAF) exposed how fascist British National Party groups on Facebook are being used to spread a message of violent race hate. The investigation uncovered images of Ku Klux Klan members posing with a sword under the subtitle "Local BNP meeting, blacks welcome". The group’s description calls on people to join to "help them fight evil and win the war of cleansing Britain" and includes a comment stating "If it aint white it aint right". The "vote BNP and save the world" group incites lynchings of black people.

Several major companies have withdrawn advertising from Facebook including Vodafone and First Direct as a result of the pages. Facebook have already removed one image from a BNP group following pressure from Facebook users. Now, parliamentarians have joined thousands of students, NUS and others in calling for Facebook to ban all such BNP groups which are against the Facebook code of conduct.

The Facebook pages further serve to expose the BNP as a dangerous fascist party that stands in the tradition of Hilter’s Nazis who tried to annihilate entire communities and destroyed human rights and democracy.

In May’s local elections the BNP won the largest ever vote for a fascist party in local elections, advancing into new areas of the country and standing an unprecedented number of candidates. Next May, it aims to win a seat on the London Assembly where in 2004 the BNP came within 0.1% of what would have been a significant breakthrough.

The BNP are increasingly targeting students. An attempt by BNP leader Nick Griffin to speak at Bath University last term was only prevented by a huge campaign, mobilising hundreds of students and involving trade unions, Unite Against Fascism (UAF), SAAR and NUS.

You can make a difference by signing a campaign postcard against the BNP on Facebook or signing the petition at www.uaf.org.uk. You can also help organise voter registration drives to maximise the anti-BNP vote in the elections and Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations on your campus. Students should get involved in UAF – a broad-based campaign which unites all those threatened by fascism to build a powerful opposition to the BNP.