The far-right group 1143 is led by Mario Machado, a neo-Nazi activist with anti-Islamic and anti-migrant views.
YouTube has suspended the account of the Portuguese far-right ultranationalist group 1143, due to hate speech in the many videos it shared.
According to the American company, This content violated its policy on combating hate speech on its platform.
Online Hate, Real Violence
This decision follows questions sent to YouTube by the New York Times as part of a story on online hate, about a protest by the group 1143 against what its members call “the Islamization of Europe”organized in Lisbon in February.
The US newspaper’s investigation focused on how hateful messages on social media are increasingly fuelling real-world violence, citing recent examples in the UK and Portugal.
“These networks peddle a toxic mix of bigotry online that researchers say is increasingly fueling offline violence – from riots in the UK to bloody attacks in Germany and arson attacks in Ireland.”we can read in the article.
The charter of YouTube prohibits videos that promote violence or hatred against people based on their nationality, ethnicity or religion..
Investigation underway against far-right organisation
Group 1143, whose name represents the year Portugal was born as a sovereign nation, is led by neo-Nazi activist Mario Machado, who served prison time for assault, racial discrimination and other crimes in the past.
Reacting to YouTube’s decision, the latter denounced what he calls “censorship of the group by the global left”.
According to Mario Machado, 1143 has been the largest nationalist organisation in Portugal for 50 years.
The far-right group organized anti-Islam protests earlier this year, one in Lisbon and one in Porto in April, which were followed in May by two attacks on migrants.
Portuguese authorities said they had opened an investigation into Group 1143.