Facebook will begin removing Holocaust denial posts, reversing its long-standing stance against policing anti-Semitic content.
The social network made the change on Monday when it updated its hate speech policies, citing “the well-documented rise in anti-Semitism globally and the alarming level of ignorance about the Holocaust, especially among young people.”
Facebook will soon begin directing users searching its platform for terms associated with the Holocaust to credible information that is not hosted on its website.
Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, who is Jewish, wrote on his personal Facebook page that he has “grappled with the tension between defending free speech and the harm done by minimizing or denying the horror of the Holocaust.”
“Drawing the right lines between what is and what is not acceptable speech is not easy, but with the current state of the world, I think this is the right balance,” he wrote.
Zuckerberg in 2018 was heavily criticized for comments he made in defense of Facebook’s previous policy of allowing content on its site when he appeared to argue that Holocaust denial is not necessarily driven by hate.
NY Post
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