Facebook, in a reversal, will now ban Holocaust denial content under its hate speech policy

For years, the company has been criticized for not taking down this extremely offensive form of content in favor of allowing free speech and distancing itself from taking on the responsibilities of a traditional publisher.Today, its reversing that position, saying it will now update its hate speech policy to prohibit any content that denies or distorts the Holocaust.

The company said it made the decision amid a growing number of online hate speech attacks and is a part of Facebooks newer efforts to fight the spread of hate speech across its platform.

The company noted, too, that institutions focused on Holocaust research and remembrance, such as Yad Vashem have stressed that Holocaust education is a key component in combating anti-Semitism.

As many may recall, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg once used Holocaust denial as an example of where he thought Facebook shouldnt intervene with regard to whats posted to its platform.

Holocaust denial content has been a longstanding problem for the company and one where many employees disagreed with Facebooks stated position on the matter.

There is a range of content that can violate these policies, and it will take some time to train our reviewers and systems on enforcement, Facebook noted.

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