NEW YORK (Press Release) — The Anti-Defamation League is relieved by Facebook’s announcement that it was updating its hate speech policy to prohibit any content “that denies or distorts the Holocaust.” This comes after nearly a decade of ADL advocating for such changes and just weeks before the 2020 presidential election, where users have been using the platform to perpetuate hate and conspiracy theories at alarming rates.
Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO, issued the following statement:
We are relieved that Facebook has finally taken the step that we have been asking them to take for nearly a decade: to call Holocaust denial and distortion what it is – “hate speech” – and in doing so, to remove it from their platform. The Holocaust, the systematic murder of approximately six million Jews and several million others during World War II, is one of history’s most painstakingly examined and well-documented genocides.
Since 2011, ADL has been calling publicly and privately for Facebook to change its policies to classify Holocaust denial on its platform as a form of hate speech, because Holocaust denial is most certainly hate speech. While Facebook has made numerous positive changes to its policies since that time, it stubbornly had held onto this outrageous platform policy, even in the face of the undeniable threat of growing antisemitism and antisemitic violence around the world.
As Facebook finally decides to take a stance against Holocaust denial and distortion, they claim it is because of their work with the Jewish community over the past year. We question this claim because if they had wanted to support the Jewish community, this change could have been implemented at any point in the last nine years. In reality, we believe Facebook is acting now because of external pressure coming from a variety of sources: the Stop Hate for Profit campaign led by ADL and other civil rights organizations; the #NoDenyingIt effort led by the Claims Conference; alarming new polling on Holocaust awareness among young people; regulatory pressure in Europe and America; the recent congressional hearings in Washington D.C. and a hard-hitting letter from 20 state attorneys general.
Whatever forces led Facebook to make this decision, we believe it will have a positive impact on the experience of Jewish users on their platform. It is an important move especially at a time when antisemitism is rising around the world. At ADL, we tracked more antisemitic incidents in the U.S. in 2019 than at any other point in the past 40 years. Similar trends in Europe also are troubling. And there is no doubt that the persistence of anti-Jewish content on Facebook even in the face of such anguish has contributed to the problem.
While we are relieved to learn this news, we also would note that platform decisions of this nature are only as good as the companies’ enforcement. Facebook now needs to reassure the global community that it is taking meaningful and comprehensive steps to ensure that Holocaust deniers are no longer able to take advantage of Facebook’s various platforms to spread antisemitism and hate. We hope that Facebook will follow up with regular progress reports documenting the steps they are taking to ensure that Holocaust denial and distortion permanently is expunged from their platform.
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Statement from Combat Anti-Semitism Movement
NEW YORK — Following ongoing engagement with Facebook’s senior policy figures, the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement warmly welcomed Facebook’s decision to ban material promoting Holocaust denial from their platform.
The decision follows an incredibly productive meeting on the 24th August between the leadership of the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement (CAM) and Monika Bickert, Facebook’s Global Head of Content Policy; Peter Stern, Facebook’s Director of Content Policy Stakeholder Engagement, and Jordana Cutler, Facebook’s Head of Policy for Israel and the Jewish diaspora.
Sacha Roytman-Dratwa, The Combat Anti-Semitism Movement Director commented, “We have met with Facebook’s senior figures on this issue over the last year, and we are greatly encouraged by this move. This is an extremely positive step and demonstrates just how seriously Facebook is taking the issue. Their landmark decision, however, comes with great responsibility.
The world’s most important social media platform is sending a message that Holocaust denial, and the hateful offence it causes is well beyond the realms of free speech. It must now show that it is prepared to not only enforce this important decision, but that it will censure the vitriolic voices which promulgate these lies.”
He added, “Moving forward, CAM will continue to advocate for Facebook and other social media platforms to account for new and nuanced forms of contemporary anti-Semitism as well as offering educational programs on anti-Semitism.”
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Statement from Israel-American Council
LOS ANGELES — The Israeli-American Council (IAC) applauds the new Facebook policy banning posts that deny or distort the Holocaust. This is an important step in the ongoing battle to fight for the truth and combat antisemitism and hate on social networks. We call on all social media platforms to follow Facebook’s example and join the fight against antisemitism and Holocaust denial.
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Statement from International March of the Living
International March of the Living applauds the decision by Facebook to expand its policy and prohibit any content that denies or distorts the Holocaust.
“This is a very important and timely step toward improving international perception of the historical facts of the Holocaust, which current surveys have proven are gravely misunderstood by so many of today’s younger generation”, commented Phyllis Greenberg Heideman, International March of the Living President.
“Nothing is more painful to Holocaust survivors than witnessing the dismissal of their suffering and denial of the murder of so many of their precious family members. We encourage all major social media platforms to follow Facebook’s example and prohibit all forms of Holocaust denial as well as antisemitism and racism on their sites.”
International March of the Living and its alumni in 150 communities around the globe thank Facebook for this important landmark decision which will surely assist in our ongoing struggle to combat Holocaust denial, antisemitism and hatred in all its forms.
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Statement from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum applauds Facebook’s decision to ban Holocaust denial and distortion, which are dangerous forms of antisemitism. Freedom of speech is vital to our democracy, but it does not require any organization to host antisemitic speech that can potentially foment violence. The alarming rise in violent antisemitism in the United States and around the world requires everyone to work to combat the spread of this ancient and deadly hatred.
Prohibiting this content from spreading on a platform that reaches approximately 2.7 billion active users each month at a time when antisemitism as well as racism and other forms of hatred are growing is an important step.
Statement from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany
In a joint statement from the Claims Conference, President Gideon Taylor and Executive Vice President Greg Schneider said:
Each day for the past 75 days, in the first-ever, survivor-led digital campaign #NoDenyingIt, Holocaust survivors have directly addressed Mark Zuckerberg, telling him that Holocaust denial is antisemitic hate speech. We welcome the announcement today that Facebook has agreed to remove Holocaust denial and distortion from its platform.
You cannot deny the atrocities Holocaust survivors suffered; we applaud these first steps. Holocaust survivors bravely came forward to ensure that their voices were heard. We now urge Facebook to take immediate action to implement its new policy.
The Claims Conference is pleased that Facebook took note of our recent survey and decided to remove Holocaust denial and distortion from its platform. As Facebook itself recognizes, our survey revealed the disturbing fact that nearly one-quarter (23%) of U.S. Millennials and Gen Z believe the Holocaust is a myth and did not happen. Our survey also found that nearly one-half (49%) of this population (U.S. adults between 18 – 39) have seen Holocaust denial and distortion on social media. With Facebook’s enormous ability to influence public understanding of the Holocaust, we are glad to see that Facebook is taking these first steps to respond to this troubling trend.
Holocaust denial is not ignorance; it is intentional, antisemitic and hateful. The Claims Conference will continue to publicly pressure social media platforms to remove this hatred until every last Holocaust denier is taken down. We will never forget.
Claims Conference September 2020 Letter to Mark Zuckerberg
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In other Holocaust news ….
SAN DIEGO — The University of California San Diego’s Holocaust Living History Workshop (HLHW) is returning this fall with a yearlong series of seven lectures that underscore the theme “Witnessing the Past: Holocaust Histories.” Now in its 12th year as a collaborative project between the UC San Diego Library and the UC San Diego Jewish Studies Program, the HLHW aims to broaden understanding of the past, foster tolerance and preserve the memory of victims and survivors of the Holocaust while also emphasizing their continued relevance in the world today.
This year’s workshop is dedicated to the topic of “witness.” What does it mean to witness rather than merely study the past? How have film and music been used to make sense of the Holocaust? In what ways do personal testimony and historical scholarship enhance our understanding of the Shoah? These are the questions that will be explored and addressed throughout the lecture series.
All events are free and open to the public, but registration is required. In accordance with San Diego County and California public health orders, the two events taking place in fall 2020 will be held virtually and take place from 5 to 6 p.m. PT. View the full calendar of events.
All in the Family: Jonas Noreika and the Quest for Truth about the Holocaust in Lithuania with Silvia Foti and Grant Gochin
Wednesday, October 14, 5 p.m. PT
What do you do when you discover that your grandfather, whom you viewed as a national hero, was a Nazi collaborator and mass murderer? This was the question confronting Silvia Foti, an American-Lithuanian from Chicago, after unearthing the shocking truth about her grandfather Jonas Noreika. Foti began a campaign to set the historical record straight alongside Grant Gochin, a Lithuanian Jewish American whose family was at the receiving end of Noreika’s murderous actions. At this event, UC San Diego Professor of Literature Amelia Glaser will interview the descendants of the perpetrator and the victims and discuss their efforts to challenge the official World War II narrative in Lithuania to secure historical justice.
Foti is a journalist, activist and teacher of high school English. Gochin, a Californian diplomat and wealth manager, has long been actively involved in Jewish affairs, especially those pertaining to Lithuania. Registration is required.
Kristallnacht on Film: From Reportage to Reenactments, 1938-1988 with Lawrence Baron
Thursday, November 5, 5 p.m. PT
What is the visual evidence of the brutal pogrom that shattered Germany’s remaining Jewish community in November 1938 and that was euphemistically labeled “Crystal Night?” Contemporary newsreel reports featured condemnations of the attack by prominent contemporaries and stills of the destruction. Later, documentary and feature films dramatized the November pogrom with the help of reenactments, photographs and survivor interviews. It was only with the discovery of German home movies of Kristallnacht that authentic footage appeared in documentaries made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the pogrom. In this talk, Lawrence Baron reconstructs an intriguing chapter of recent Jewish and German film history.
Professor emeritus at San Diego State University, Baron is the author and editor of four books including “The Modern Jewish Experience in World Cinema” and “Projecting the Holocaust into the Present: The Changing Focus of Contemporary Holocaust Cinema.” His contribution to Holocaust studies was profiled in “Fifty Key Thinkers on the Holocaust and Genocide.” Registration is required.
Mark your calendars and stay tuned for registration details for these additional HLHW 2020-2021 events:
- January 21, 2021, 5 p.m. PT: Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of World War II with Anna Shternshis and Psoy Korolenko
- February 17, 2021, 5 p.m. PT: Sexual Barter in Times of Genocide: Reflections on Sexual Violence, Agency, and Sex Work with Anna Hajkova
- April 14, 2021, 5 p.m. PT: “The Last Stage” by Wanda Jakubowska (1948) film screening with Marek Haltof
- May 5, 2021, 5 p.m. PT: Film as Witness to the Holocaust: A Victims’ Perspective with Leora Bilsky
- June 2, 2021, 5 p.m. PT: Mengele: Unmasking the “Angel of Death” with David Marwell
In addition to the public lecture series, the HLHW engages local students, teachers, interested community members, and Holocaust survivors and their families through use of USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive. The Archive is the world’s largest online database of videotaped testimonies by Holocaust survivors and witnesses, and the UC San Diego Library is the only institution in the San Diego region to have access to its resources.
For more information about UC San Diego’s Holocaust Living History Workshop, contact Susanne Hillman at shillman@ucsd.edu. If you have questions or would like to register by phone, contact us at UCSDLibrary@ucsd.edu or (858) 534-1183.
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Preceding culled from news releases sent to San Diego Jewish World.
Agricultural cooperative members planning their local projects in Morocco’s Oujda Region (High Atlas Foundation, 2020).