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Image posted, Reuters
Auschwitz is the most popular concentration camp for Jews
For the first time, Facebook decided to publicly block any content that denies the Holocaust.
The administration of the social networking site said: “Any content that denies the occurrence of the Holocaust will be prevented.”
“I have long suffered from the struggle between free speech and the prevention of this type of content,” wrote site founder and owner Mark Zuckerberg, “but this is the right balance.”
And Zuckerberg said two years ago that such comments should not be automatically blocked for fear of “misunderstandings.”
And he added: “I am Jewish and there are people who deny the Holocaust.”
“I feel like Holocaust denial is very hurtful. But in the end I don’t see that our platform should stop it because in the end people can misinterpret anything, although I don’t think that happens at the level of world public opinion.”
At the time, Zuckerberg’s comments sparked widespread controversy on social media.
Zuckerberg withdrew on Monday after Facebook announced the decision. He wrote in his account on the site: “My personal opinion has changed after following the continued rise in anti-Semitic content and broader policies to counter hate speech.”
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Mark Zuckerberg changed his mind on preventing Holocaust denial
He added: “Drawing the line between acceptable and rejected speech is not easy, but in the current situation the world is going through, I think this is the right thing to do.”
Facebook earlier this year banned the posting of content that promoted harmful stereotypes, including anti-Semitism. But he did not decide to avoid Holocaust denial.
Facebook’s deputy director of content affairs, Monica Beckett, said the company made its decision because of “a documented rise in anti-Semitism globally and the level of ignorance among people about the Holocaust, especially the young.”
He added that, beginning later this year, those looking for content that denies the Holocaust will be directed to “credible” information. But he cautioned that it may take time to reach an optimal situation.
The World Association of Jews said it welcomes Facebook’s decision, after it had previously supported the platform in the decision to block anti-Semitic content.
“Denying, belittling or minimizing the Holocaust are all means used to spread hate speech and spread false conspiracy theories about Jews and other minorities,” the association said in a statement.
The League had lobbied Facebook for years with the goal of avoiding denial of Holocaust content.
