HR Commends Facebook for Banning Holocaust Denial Posts

Following years of pressure from and engagement with Jewish and other organizations, Facebook, which also owns the popular social media platform Instagram, has updated its hate speech policy to include a ban on content that denies or distorts the Holocaust.

Jordana Cutler, Facebook’s head of policy in Israel, contacted HonestReporting to thank us for our “partnership and support,” adding that she is “looking forward to what else we will accomplish in the New Year.”

These changes are a result of the deep relationships we have built with organizations in Israel and the diaspora, and many conversations over the past year about the battle against antisemitism. As you know, this follows recent steps we have taken to protect Jews against harmful stereotypes. Thank you very much for your partnership and support – and am looking forward to seeing what else we will accomplish together in the New Year.”

After the announcement, HonestReporting issued the following statement:

HonestReporting welcomes Facebook’s announcement that it has updated its hate speech policy to include a ban on posts that deny or distort the Holocaust.

Holocaust distortion and denial is more than simply a wrongheaded opinion, but poisons the public conversation with lies and fuels hatred of the Jewish people and the State of Israel.

For years, HonestReporting has called on traditional and social media to act responsibly and not serve as a conduit for the promotion of falsehoods. Accordingly, we view Facebook’s move as a significant and deeply encouraging step in the right direction. It is our fervent hope that this new policy is enforced.”

“I’m proud that together with several dedicated organizations HonestReporting played a role in helping to bring about this commendable move by Facebook and I am proud of Facebook for taking action. This new policy will go a long way towards stamping out one of the worst forms of antisemitism,” HonestReporting CEO Daniel Pomerantz said.

“Nevertheless, Holocaust denial and distortion are still widely practiced and promoted not only by individuals and organizations, but also at the state level,” he added. “This includes, most notably, Iran, whose leader has been allowed to use Internet platforms to spread genocidal hatred against the State of Israel.

“It is necessary to quash this uniquely anti-Jewish phenomenon and we hope that Facebook’s example will be followed by other social media companies,” Pomerantz concluded. “Amid a global resurgence of antisemitism, it is especially important to continuously make clear to those who would do harm to the Jewish people: Never Again.”

The move comes after a campaign this summer by an alliance of Jewish and pro-Israel organizations, including HonestReporting, which sent an open letter sent to Facebook’s board of directors.

In response, the social media giant said it would be “updating our policies to more specifically account for certain kinds of implicit hate speech, such as content depicting blackface, or stereotypes about Jewish people controlling the world.”

The letter urged Facebook to adopt a clear hate speech policy based on the widely accepted working definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).