The fake news term #MuslimBan trended on Facebook Monday as people protested President Trump’s executive order to temporarily halt travel to the U.S. from certain countries over security concerns.
The trending topic compiled the thoughts of people angry at President Donald Trump’s recent executive order which enacted a temporary halt — which makes no mention of the Islamic religion — to people from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen entering the US until stricter immigration control procedures are put in place.
Many failed to understand the meaning of the immigration halt and bought into the fake news term “#MuslimBan,” created to paint the temporary halt as a religiously motivated attack.
Freedom of religion is a basic premise of the American experiment.
Posted by The Nation Magazine on Monday, January 30, 2017
Other turned to comic book art to represent their anger:
I don't even know what to say.#MuslimBan
Posted by Maryne. on Saturday, January 28, 2017
And many other called the halt racism:
This ban is the height of RACISM. For quite some time in our country, racism directed towards Arabs of Muslim faith has…
Posted by Niko Qaddadeh on Monday, January 30, 2017
Of course many that did so failed to actually read the executive order. Breitbart News’ John Hayward compiled a breakdown of facts relating to the temporary immigration halt that demonstrate the executive order is not a blanket ban on Muslims entering the United States:
- It is NOT a “Muslim ban.” You will search the Executive Order in vain for mentions of Islam, or any other religion.
- The order is based on security reviews conducted by President Barack Obama’s deputies.
- The moratorium is largely temporary. Citizens of the seven countries named as security risks are banned from entering the United States for the next 90 days.
- Obama banned immigration from Iraq, and Carter banned it from Iran.
- Trump’s refugee caps are comparable to Obama’s pre-2016 practices
- The Executive Order is legal: Those invoking the Constitution to attack Trump’s order are simply embarrassing themselves.
- This Executive Order is a security measure, not an arbitrary expression of supposed xenophobia.
In 2016, following Donald Trump’s stunning election upset of Hillary Clinton, Facebook announced it would begin labeling stories as “fake news” that had been “disputed by 3rd Party Fact-Checkers,” partnering with partisan outlets like ABC News, Politifact, and Snopes.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan_ or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.