Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says while he finds Holocaust denial “deeply offensive,” he doesn’t believe that such content should be banned from Facebook.
Speaking with Recode’s Kara Swisher, Zuckerberg, who is Jewish, said in an interview published Wednesday that he thinks there are things “that different people get wrong.” He added that he doesn’t think they are “intentionally” getting it wrong. At this point, Swisher cut in and said that in the case of Holocaust deniers, it may be intentionally wrong.
On Wednesday, Zuckerberg clarified the meaning of his remarks in an email to Swisher. “I enjoyed our conversation yesterday, but there’s one thing I want to clear up. I personally find Holocaust denial deeply offensive, and I absolutely didn’t intend to defend the intent of people who deny that,” he wrote.
“Our goal with fake news is not to prevent anyone from saying something untrue — but to stop fake news and misinformation spreading across our services. If something is spreading and is rated false by fact checkers, it would lose the vast majority of its distribution in News Feed. And of course if a post crossed line into advocating for violence or hate against a particular group, it would be removed,” the platform founder added.
The initial Tuesday remarks sparked criticism, including from the Anti-Defamation League, which said in a statement that Facebook has a “moral and ethical obligation” not to allow people to disseminate Holocaust denial on its platform.
Zuckerberg said offensive content isn’t necessarily banned unless it is to organize harm or attack someone.
