On Friday, August 7, 2020, a coalition of over 100 organizations submitted a letter to social media giant Facebook, urging its executives to adopt a clear antisemitism hate speech policy based on the widely accepted working definition of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
To read the letter in full, click here.
Online antisemitism has been of significant concern in recent years. The gunman who in late 2018 perpetrated the massacre at a synagogue in Pittsburgh frequently visited sites populated by racists. He had shared on social media numerous antisemitic messages, including his desire for “all Jews to die.” Conspiracy theories abound about Jews undermining the United States government, for example, and tropes about Jews being responsible for COVID-19 have become ubiquitous.
It is clear that Facebook’s community standards have failed to adequately deal with this rampant antisemitism.
Recognizing this, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in June that the company’s hate speech policies would be revised. Hence, the opportunity for HonestReporting and its partners to launch a campaign calling on Facebook to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism. Fighting all forms of Jew-hatred first requires that tools be implemented that can clearly identify the hate speech at its source.
The IHRA definition of antisemitism is the world’s most prevalent. It has been adopted by the US State Department and over 40 other countries. As HonestReporting’s letter states: “the full IHRA working definition of antisemitism provides Facebook an effective, neutral, and nuanced tool to protect Jewish users from hate speech and imagery that incites hate and oftentimes leads to violence.”
Sign our petition to demand the media adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
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