The moment when Facebook’s removal of alleged Russian disinformation became a free speech issue

Left-leaning political activists accused Facebook of suppressing free speech when the social media giant removed an event listing that it said was part of a new disinformation campaign with ties to Russia.Facebook said it had to act quickly to disclose that inauthentic operators were behind an upcoming event in Washington (DC) to counter a white supremacist rally inspired by Charlottesville. “Resisters,” the page that first created the event, was among the 32 pages and accounts Facebook removed. However, activists who had worked with Resisters said the counter protest they planned against a far-right rally was legitimate - and that Facebook was harming their ability to combat the rise of white supremacy. The event, called “No Unite the Right 2 DC,” and promoted by Resisters along with other left-leaning groups, was collateral damage in Facebook’s battle against disinformation, they said.