Facebook in denial

Zuckerberg slammed for defending posts disputing Holocaust

FACEBOOK found itself embroiled in controversy again yesterday when chief executive Mark Zuckerberg argued the social network should not filter out posts denying the Holocaust.

The comments by Mr Zuckerberg drew fierce criticism and undermined Facebook’s latest effort to root out hate speech, violence and misinformation on its platform.

Mr Zuckerberg told tech website Recode that Facebook was dedicated to stopping the spread of fake news, but would not filter out factually wrong posts – including from Holocaust deniers and conspiracy theory site Infowars.

“I’m Jewish, and there’s a set of people who deny that the Holocaust happened,” he said.

“I find that deeply offensive. But at the end of the day, I don’t believe that our platform should take that down because I think there are things that different people get wrong. I don’t think that they’re intentionally getting it wrong.”

Critics quickly lashed out at Mr Zuckerberg over the comments.

“Holocaust denial is the quintessential ‘fake news’,” said Abraham Cooper of the Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Center. “The Nazi Holocaust is the most documented atrocity in history.

“Allowing the canard of Holocaust denial to be posted on Facebook, or any other social media platform, cannot be justified in the name of ‘free exchange of ideas’.”

The episode was an unwelcome distraction for Facebook after it briefed journalists on the company’s new policy to remove bogus posts likely to spark violence.

Syracuse University social media professor Jennifer Grygiel said despite Facebook’s ramped up efforts, it needed far more employees to weed out harmful posts.

Mr Zuckerberg “needs to figure out content moderation and he can’t do it without more people. This has life and death implications,” Ms Grygiel said.