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Belfast councillor Jolene Bunting banned from Facebook for 30 days

Belfast councillor Jolene Bunting (right) with Paul Golding, the leader of Britain First, and Jayda Fransen, its' deputy leader. Picture from Twitter
Belfast councillor Jolene Bunting (right) with Paul Golding, the leader of Britain First, and Jayda Fransen, its' deputy leader. Picture from Twitter

A BELFAST councillor has been banned by Facebook for 30 days after posting messages in support of a member of a far-right group.

Jolene Bunting, an independent councillor for the Court area, tweeted that she had been banned for her posts backing Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of Britain First.

Ms Fransen (31) is expected to appear before Belfast Magistrates' Court on December 14 charged with hate speech offences in relation to comments she made at an event outside city hall in August.

The Belfast councillor, who organised the 'anti-terrorism' demonstration in August, is due to give a speech at the Britain First annual conference in Bedfordshire today.

It comes after US President Donald Trump was condemned for retweeting posts by Ms Fransen, including unverified footage purporting to show Muslims committing crimes.

British prime minister Theresa May, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby were among those who criticised President Trump.

A rally in support of Ms Jansen and calling for charges against her to be dropped is to be held in Belfast on Sunday December 10.

Neither Facebook nor Ms Bunting responded to a request for comment.