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Facebook has explicitly banned Holocaust denial for the first time.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The social network said its new policy prohibits “any content that denies or distorts the Holocaust”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Facebook\n boss Mark Zuckerberg wrote that he had “struggled with the tension” \nbetween free speech and banning such posts, but that “this is the right \nbalance”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two years ago, Mr Zuckerberg said that such posts should not automatically be taken down for “getting it wrong”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I’m Jewish and there’s a set of people who deny that the Holocaust happened,” he told Recode at the time<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I\n find it deeply offensive. But at the end of the day, I don’t believe \nthat our platform should take that down because I think there are things\n that different people get wrong. I don’t think that they’re \nintentionally getting it wrong.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n His remarks led to a large public backlash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But on Monday, as Facebook changed its policies, he wrote that he had changed his mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “My\n own thinking has evolved as I’ve seen data showing an increase in \nanti-Semitic violence, as have our wider policies on hate speech,” he wrote in a public Facebook post<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Drawing\n the right lines between what is and isn’t acceptable speech isn’t \nstraightforward, but with the current state of the world, I believe this\n is the right balance.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier\n this year, Facebook banned hate speech involving harmful stereotypes, \nincluding anti-Semitic content. But Holocaust denial had not been \nbanned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Facebook’s\n vice-president of content policy, Monika Bickert, said the company had \nmade the decision alongside “the well-documented rise in anti-Semitism \nglobally and the alarming level of ignorance about the Holocaust, \nespecially among young people”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She\n said that later this year, searching for the Holocaust – or its denial –\n on Facebook would direct users to “credible” information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But she also warned change would not happen overnight, and training its employees and automated systems would take time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The World Jewish Congress – which had conferred with Facebook on anti-Semitism – welcomed the move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Denying\n the Holocaust, trivializing it, minimizing it, is a tool used to spread\n hatred and false conspiracies about Jews and other minorities,” the \ngroup said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it also noted that it had campaigned for the removal of Holocaust denial content from the platform “for several years”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League<\/a>, tweeted: “This has been years in the making.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Having\n personally engaged with Facebook on the issue, I can attest the ban on \nHolocaust Denial is a big deal… glad it finally happened.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was a bit of a “wait, they don’t do this already?” moment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps that’s because Facebook has quite radically shifted its position on removing hate speech and fake news in recent months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We’re still seeing loopholes from an old moderating regime being closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Critics, though, argue this isn’t happening fast enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\n combined platforms of Facebook and Instagram – which is owned by \nFacebook – have an extraordinary reach of billions of users worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That influence has to be used responsibly, and Facebook acknowledges this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The advertising boycott in July also helped cement the view internally that more had to be done to tackle hate speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark\n Zuckerberg’s instincts have always been to champion freedom of speech –\n the best way to fight bad speech is good speech he’s always said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But this latest move appears to indicate Facebook now accepts it needs to be more proactive in combating hate speech.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" More Silicon Valley Mind Control: Questioning Jewish Tribal History Banned from Facebook Facebook bans Holocaust denial content Published3 days agoRelated Topics The Holocaust Facebook has explicitly banned Holocaust denial for the first time. The social network said its new policy … Continue reading ![\"Facebook](\"https:\/\/c.files.bbci.co.uk\/D707\/production\/_114874055_hi063080154.jpg\")
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