Live feed from cemetery sparks torrent of antiSemitism

PARIS: A French TV channel said yesterday it had to cut short a live Facebook broadcast from a desecrated Jewish cemetery because of an onslaught of antiSemitic commentary.

Separately, two swastikas and antiSemitic slogans were found painted in red on a monument at a different cemetery near Lyon.

France 3 television said it went live from the first cemetery, in the village of Quatzenheim, on Wednesday as President Emmanuel Macron was visiting after more than 90 graves were vandalised with swastikas and antiSemitic abuse.

But as it broadcast footage online to its more than 1.3 million Facebook followers, the feed was inundated with antiSemitic com mentary and abuse.

‘‘We are talking about explicit death threats, comments that were openly antiSemitic and racist, including ‘‘Heil Hitler’’, ‘‘dirty Jew’’ or ‘‘dirty Jews’’, comments that were addressed at Emmanuel Macron and representatives of the Jewish community,’’ the channel said.

‘‘Within minutes, the number of vile and illegal comments had gone well beyond our capacity to moderate them.’’

It would have taken 10 or 20 staff to do so, it said.

Macron told Jewish leaders yesterday a Bill would be introduced by May requiring internet platforms to quickly take down hate speech and identify the authors. — Reuters