Israel Matzav

Peres ignores Holocaust denial at Facebook

On Tuesday, Israel's President, Shimon Peres, visited a US company that believes that Holocaust denial is not a form of hatred. That company - Facebook - set up two pages for Peres. Unsurprisingly, it appears that Peres did not raise the issue of Facebook's coddling of Holocaust denial and other forms of anti-Semitism. He should have.

Facebook has drawn an artificial distinction between generic forms of expression of hatred, which they ban, and Holocaust denial, a specific form of incitement to hatred, which they should ban, but do not.

In the US, Holocaust denial is recognized as a form of hate. Because incitement to hatred is protected under the First Amendment, Congress cannot pass laws to prevent it. Facebook, on the other hand, can and does prohibit the use of its service to promote hate. As a private company it has that right.

By refusing to accept that Holocaust denial is a form of hate, Facebook lends legitimacy to the deniers and strikes against a human rights consensus. Holocaust denial attempts to murder the victims a second time by killing their memory. Facebook must change its policy so the software platform does not facilitate this.

We strongly feel such a policy change would be more than symbolic. A new policy for Facebook would not only be morally correct, it would make life much easier for Facebook staff, as it is easier to recognize a page or group dedicated to Holocaust denial than it is to trawl through it to find references calling for the murder of Jews. Facebook, which bans pictures of breast-feeding mothers, does not need to make the hurdles so high when it comes to the hatred of Jews.

But Peres did not raise Holocaust denial. Instead, he kissed up to the aspiring billionaires:

In an extended interview with Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, that was streamed live over the social network, Peres talked about everything from technology's role in reclaiming the Israeli desert to the need for equal rights for women in the Arab world and Facebook's role in helping Israel make peace with its neighbors.

"What you are doing is convince people they don't have reason to hate. Hate is an unnecessary addition to our lives," Peres said in response to a question from a Facebook engineer about how the social network could help promote peace in the Middle East. Through Facebook, "they begin to talk and ask each other . . 'What is the difference between Israel and other countries? We have the same problems.' They wouldn't take a directive from us, but through you, yes. Because you are not the government; you are a facilitator, not a ruler."

It's sad that the President of Israel is so busy trying to please everyone that he can't speak up for what's right. At least on this one, we expected better.

Labels: Facebook, Holocaust denial, Shimon Peres

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:09 PM