Facebook doet Holocaustontkenning in de ban

Beter laat dan nooit: Facebook doet Holocaustontkenning in de ban. Eerder werden QAnon en Blackface (Zwarte Piet) al van het platform gekegeld.

Twee jaar geleden zat Mark Zuckerberg nog te wauwelen over de ‘vrijheid van meningsuiting’, maar daar komt de baas van Facebook nu dus op terug:

Today we’re updating our hate speech policy to ban Holocaust denial.

We’ve long taken down posts that praise hate crimes or mass murder, including the Holocaust. But with rising anti-Semitism, we’re expanding our policy to prohibit any content that denies or distorts the Holocaust as well. If people search for the Holocaust on Facebook, we’ll start directing you to authoritative sources to get accurate information.

I’ve struggled with the tension between standing for free expression and the harm caused by minimizing or denying the horror of the Holocaust. My own thinking has evolved as I’ve seen data showing an increase in anti-Semitic violence, as have our wider policies on hate speech. Drawing the right lines between what is and isn’t acceptable speech isn’t straightforward, but with the current state of the world, I believe this is the right balance.