Facing criticism, Zuckerberg walks back defence of Holocaust deniers

SANFRANCISCO:Facebook Inc chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg walked back comments that appeared to defend Holocaust deniers, after trying to explain how careful the social media giant tries to be before kicking people off the network.

In an interview with Recode, Zuckerberg was illustrating the difference between those who spread false information with an intent to harass people, and those who simply spread the misinformation. The first type gets banned, and the second doesn’t.

“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.”

Facebook has long had a policy of letting people deny the Holocaust, except in countries where such content is illegal, such as Germany. But Zuckerberg’s comments came amid increased scrutiny of the company’s content moderation practices. He ended up walking back his remarks, following a backlash online and admonitions by interest groups. “I personally find Holocaust denial deeply offensive, and I absolutely didn’t intend to defend the intent of people who deny that,” he wrote in a later note to Recode.

However, Facebook’s policy to keep up such content still remains.