Screenshots shared on Twitter showed a notice asking "Are you concerned that someone you know is becoming an extremist?" and another that alerted users "you may have been exposed to harmful extremist content recently." Both included links to "get support."
Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone confirmed that the social media giant is testing the prompts as part of greater radicalization prevention.
Republican Virginia House of Delegates member Nick Freitas tweeted about the alerts, calling it an "Orwellian environment."
Yes…actually I have a real concern that some leftist technocrats are creating an Orwellian environment where people are being arbitrarily silenced or banned for saying something the “thought police” doesn’t like. pic.twitter.com/lPcfx6NbXC
— Nick Freitas (@NickForVA) July 1, 2021
Several other conservative commentators have spoken up against the warnings. Writer and commentator Alex Berenson also tweeted about the situation.
Yeah, I’m becoming an extremist. An anti-@Facebook extremist. “Confidential help is available?” Who do they think they are?Either they’re a publisher and a political platform legally liable for every bit of content they host, or they need to STAY OUT OF THE WAY. Zuck’s choice. pic.twitter.com/AImMAcnPAv
— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) July 1, 2021
In the past, Facebook has dealt with an antisemitism problem.
Several groups with roughly a thousand members each have popped up, according to the ADL, each espousing Holocaust denial.
In a letter to Facebook sent June 2021, the ADL accuses the company of inaction towards antisemitism:
"Despite years of requests to address antisemitism, Facebook has failed to take sufficient action against posts, groups and users that promote antisemitism in clear contravention of the company’s community standards," the letter said. "Facebook’s inaction has helped spread hatred of Jews and has contributed to historical[ly] high levels of antisemitism in America and antisemitism online and offline across the globe."
Reuters contributed to this report.