Pro-Trump activists are heading to alternative social networks after Facebook shut down a protest organizing group of more than 365,000 members, saying it broke policies around inciting violence, Business Insider reported.
Thousands have gathered to flocked to platforms like MeWe and Parler, which emphasize users' rights and privacy, BI reported.
Trump supporters' mobilization efforts first surfaced in the form of a Facebook group called "Stop the Steal," which accumulated more than 365,000 members in just two days, the news outlet reported.
Facebook said Thursday it shut down the group because it was organized around "the delegitimization of the election process," and some members were making "worrying calls for violence."
Even before Facebook took action, an alternative group on MeWe, which was founded in 2012, had been created in anticipation of a ban, according to BI.
Since Facebook's action Thursday, the number of members in the biggest MeWe "Stop the Steal" group has spiked, BI reported, with users splintering off into state-by-state "chapters."
Another social network, Parler, has also emerged as an outlet for Republican officials, conservative pundits, and Trump supporters. The #StoptheSteal hashtag has more than 15,000 "parleys," or mentions, on the platform, BI reported.
The term "Stop the Steal" was made notorious during the 2016 presidential election by GOP political consultant Roger Stone, who reportedly formed an activist group and threatened protests if Donald Trump was not named Republican presidential nominee.
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