Wimborne Militia in Facebook battle after accounts disabled

Members of the Wimborne Militia are a popular attraction at annual events like the switching on of the town's Christmas lights

Historical re-enactors who have had their Facebook accounts frozen fear it is because they have been mistaken for US right-wing militia.

The accounts of five members of the Wimborne Militia have been disabled, leaving them unable to post photos and content.

Facebook said it was investigating.

In August, the social media platform began taking down or restricting accounts backing right-wing conspiracies and US militia groups.

Wimborne Militia, which currently has about 60 members and recreates historical events such as the Monmouth Rebellion, is well known at local events, such as the annual switching on of the Christmas lights in Wimborne.

The group believes it has been targeted due to its name

With many of its activities cancelled during the pandemic, the group has relied on social media to keep in touch with members and stage virtual events.

While the five members, who were the group's Facebook page administrators, have had their accounts disabled by the social media giant, the page itself remains online.

Among those affected is Chris Brown, who is also Wimborne's town crier.

"I run a number of social media pages and contribute to pages about Wimborne. I'm the administrator of the neighbourhood watch, so I can't even do that at the moment," he said.

A spokesman for the Wimborne Militia said: "All we can imagine is that we've been caught up in an algorithm of deleting those pages because we've got 'militia' in our title and we refer to the militia in our personal accounts."

Town crier Chris Brown was among those whose Facebook accounts were disabled