HOLOCAUST DENIAL:
ACTION PLAN
FOR
Dear Mr Zuckerberg
We write with an offer of help in these troubled times, and specifically in relation to the attached story run by The Times of London on Friday July 27, 2018.
We sympathise with your stated desire to bolster freedom of speech, even to those whose views you personally find abhorrent. We also salute your recognition that there may be varying kinds of intent in the hearts and minds of those who post such views on Facebook - including those you were quoted as saying may innocently be “getting a few things wrong”.
Yet Facebook must not allow complete and utter falsehoods about the Holocaust, and about the Jewish people, to go systematically unchecked. Virulent antisemitism is a proven pathway that leads from rhetorical hatred to actions of violence. Freedom of speech laws are not a reason to do nothing — inaction is always the opportunity for evil to flourish.
All genocide starts with distortion of the truth and prejudice. Ignorance and lack of education permit this and, according to the Antidefamation League, are the dominant source of antisemitic views. We cannot ignore the rising number of violent antisemitic attacks in the UK, France and other European countries. In the UK alone, The Guardian newspaper reported a 34% rise in violent assaults against Jewish people in 2017, and the number has risen again in 2018.
No society can afford to ignore, hide or bury antisemitism if it wishes to remain civilised. History proves that it is the canary in the coal mine; the first unravelling of a society’s moral fabric. During World War II, it was the first rung on the ladder of prejudice and discrimination that led to genocide — first against Jews and then other groups including political opponents, homosexuals, and Roma and Sinti people. Hatred of one group within society leads to hatred of others.
Below, we publish an open letter addressed to Mark Zuckerberg, head of Facebook, regarding the presence of negating Holocaust-related content on the social network.