Facebook bans Holocaust denial content

(FASTNEWS | COLOMBO) –  Facebook has explicitly banned Holocaust denial for the first time.

The social network said its new policy prohibits “any content that denies or distorts the Holocaust”.

Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg wrote that he had “struggled with the tension” between free speech and banning such posts, but that “this is the right balance”.

Two years ago, Mr Zuckerberg said that such posts should not automatically be taken down for “getting it wrong”.

“I’m Jewish and there’s a set of people who deny that the Holocaust happened,” he told Recode at the time.

“I find it 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. I don’t think that they’re intentionally getting it wrong.”

His remarks led to a large public backlash.

But on Monday, as Facebook changed its policies, he wrote that he had changed his mind.

“My own thinking has evolved as I’ve seen data showing an increase in anti-Semitic violence, as have our wider policies on hate speech,” he wrote in a public Facebook post.