Facebook executives have attempted to cultivate an image for the company
centered on the appearance of high standards of responsibility, transparency,


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Tech & Terrorism: Antisemitism Continues To Proliferate On Facebook

 

(New York, N.Y.) – Facebook executives have attempted to cultivate an image
for the company centered on the appearance of high standards of responsibility,
transparency, and consistency, but it consistently fails in all three areas.
Facebook has failed to sufficiently protect its platform with clear policies
and robust, consistent enforcement. This is particularly evident in Facebook’s
inability to prevent the spread of antisemitic content despite it being banned
by the company for many years.

 

A July 2018 investigation by The Times
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exposed how Facebook was hosting posts that called Jews “barbaric and
unsanitary,” depicted Jews as cockroaches, and linked to Holocaust denial fan
pages in blatant violation of the company’s Community Standards, which
regulates acceptable content and behavior on Facebook. Since then, Facebook has
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its hate speech policy and expanded it by prohibiting content that “denies or
distorts the Holocaust,” or includes “anti-Semitic stereotypes about the
collective power of Jews.” The measure was reactive, as is typical for the
company, and antisemitic content continues to persist and proliferate on
Facebook despite clearly falling within the parameters of what company policies
restrict.

 

Sadly, this pattern is routine for Facebook. The company playbook calls for it
todeny, delay, and deflect
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in the face of crises and criticism. Company officials hedge against attacks
by citing the scope of the challenge andshifting
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blame onto other smaller platforms. More often than not, only limited, if any
real change occurs.

 

Today, Facebook hosts public groups with thousands of followers alleging that
Jews secretly control the U.S. government, audiobook versions of The Protocols
of the Learned Elders of Zion—which is presented as truth and contains no
mention of the book’s fraudulent nature—and individual posts on meme pages
indicating that Jews and Israelis are a “disease.”





Clearly, Facebook is only superficially serious about identifying violations
of its Community Standards and protecting users from the kinds of antisemitic
content that has too often fueled real-world violence.

 

Verifiably improving Facebook’s content moderation policies will require
Facebook to invest the required, extensive resources to tackle the problem,
which should not be a problem given its$86 billion in revenue
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. The spread of antisemitic content online creates real-world harms. It is used
by extremists for recruitment and has been directly linked to attacks on Jewish
communities. Facebook has taken a public stand and has the resources to follow
through. It’s time to start asking its leadership why it is failing to do so.

 

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