Social media dumbing down the Holocaust
Few would argue with the notion that humanity is more educated today than ever before. Despite our advancements in science, medicine, business, academia and the professions however, study after study has pointed to a dumbing down of student knowledge about the Holocaust. As we commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 80th anniversary of the infamous Wannsee Conference in Berlin, which hatched the so-called “Final Solution,” making genocide official Nazi policy, yet another study released this week found that nearly a third of North American students think the Holocaust was exaggerated or fabricated.
“Given the fact that a Liberation75 study found that a third of students “reported feeling that the Holocaust was an exaggerated or fabricated event,” and this revelation demonstrates that our educational system is failing in first and foremost, educating students about a major historical event and second, teaching students how to think critically about social media, where 40 per cent of students said they learned about the Holocaust. In fact, I would assert that every single subject taught at school should include critical analysis of information derived from social media platforms.”
Case in point, Israel’s Antisemitism Cyber Monitoring System (ACMS) released shocking figures this week showing that antisemitic posts on five different social media platforms, including threats of violence against Jews, Zionists and Israel, were up 1,200 per cent in May 2021 compared with May 2020. ACMS found a 31.3 per cent year-over-year increase in antisemitic posts on Twitter alone in May 2021. It’s not surprising therefore that study after study is finding that social media in particular is dumbing down student knowledge about the Holocaust, while spreading false narratives.
What we are seeing in schools is equally disconcerting. This week, it was revealed that the Ontario College of Teachers revoked the teaching licence of a Timmins teacher who pleaded no-contest to promoting antisemitism, Holocaust denial and 9-11 conspiracy theories in the classroom. Why then should we be surprised when we hear about students at another Ontario school who paraded across a field shouting “Heil Hitler.” When booksellers are found selling conspiracy-laden books like The Protocols of the Elders of Zion or similar films and board games, why are we shocked when the words, “Hitler Was Right” are scrawled on a major highway overpass?
These growing social trends point to a massive failure of the traditional bedrock institutions that once held together our social fabric. Even while the United Nations has now twice adopted resolutions condemning Holocaust denial, and despite the fact that most Western governments are adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, and despite the growth of international ceremonies marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day annually on Jan. 27 to mark the liberation of Auschwitz, the significance of these activities is clearly not penetrating society.
In order to move the needle on Holocaust education, The Abraham Global Peace Initiative is pushing forward a new values-based framework. While educating students about the Holocaust or any other issue for that matter, the focus must be on building moral and ethical values that allow for better personal choices. We need to focus on building good character in addition to better informed, factually based knowledge.
As we mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day each year, we can turn these negatives into positives by teaching students first, to honour their own nations — especially if they fought the Nazis to liberate Europe. The fight against Nazism is not just for the Jewish community. Canadian, American and British soldiers fought and died to preserve our freedom. Second, we must teach students to find the truth and not abandon facts. The Holocaust happened because the Nazis abandoned truth and replaced it with propaganda. We must teach students to be critical thinkers, especially as social media spreads false information. Thirdly, if we are going to press upon the next generation the importance of learning from humanity’s past mistakes, we need to inspire and empower them to do good. We can do this by promoting positive role models and showing them that they can change the world for the better.
Condemnations are no longer enough. Where is our national action plan? All of these incidents and more point to a need for a reformed Criminal Code that takes social media platforms, retailers and booksellers to task for selling material that propagates hate. To truly and meaningfully mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we must confront these crucial issues. It is vital for all of humanity to rally behind the lessons of the Holocaust so that we can defend our future as one.