New York – Existing Facebook groups that deny the Holocaust will remain on the social networking site because Facebook only intervenes in cases where groups threaten violence toward others, the site said Tuesday.
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The issue cropped up after Brian Cuban, a Dallas attorney and brother of tech entrepreneur Mark Cuban, wrote a blog post in which he criticized Facebook for allowing Holocaust denial groups.
“Facebook certainly has the right to allow diverse points of view on politically and historically sensitive issues, [but] Facebook also has Terms of Service (TOS) in place that dictates the limitations on such content,” Cuban wrote.
For its part, Facebook said that it tries to walk a fine line between tolerance and censorship.
“We are sensitive to groups that threaten violence towards people and these groups are taken down,” a Facebook spokesman said in an e-mail. “We also remove groups that express hatred towards individuals and groups that are sponsored by recognized terrorist organizations. We do not, however, take down groups that speak out against countries, political entities, or ideas.”
The Facebook TOS prohibits members from posting content that would “constitute, encourage or provide instructions for a criminal offense, violate the rights of any party, or that would otherwise create liability or violate any local, state, national or international law.”
Holocaust denial is not illegal in the United States, but Cuban pointed to several countries in which it is a crime, including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Israel, Slovakia and Switzerland.
Since Holocaust denial is illegal in countries where Facebook has a presence, it should be removed, Cuban argued.
“We have recently begun to block content by IP in countries where that content is illegal, including Nazi-related and Holocaust denial content in certain European countries,” the Facebook spokesman said. “The groups in question have been blocked in the appropriate countries.”
Just because content is illegal in one country does not mean it will be removed from the site, however. “For example, homosexual content is illegal in some countries, but that does not mean it should be removed from Facebook,” the Facebook spokesman said.
In developing its policies, Facebook wanted to “strike a very delicate balance between giving Facebook users the freedom to express their opinions and beliefs — even those that are controversial or that we may find repulsive — while also ensuring that individuals and groups of people do not feel threatened or endangered,” the spokesman said.
Facebook recently took steps to remove a KKK group from the site. The group, set up by several residents of a remote British island, urged its members “clense (sic) the Isle of Man” of people the group members considered undesirable, according to the island’s local newspaper.
“In the case of the Isle of Man page, it was taken down for inciting violence by members against foreigners on the island,” Facebook said.
In his blog post, Cuban said that Facebook had been unresponsive to his questions. Facebook insisted that its user operations team exchanged several e-mails with Cuban in November 2008, during which he was provided with a similar explanation.
“I understand that he doesn’t like our answer but his claims of us being unresponsive are incorrect,” the Facebook spokesman said.
Let’s face it, free speech is a double-edged sword. I’d rather have it this way than be in a country that restricts our essential freedoms, especially those involving our free practice of religion.
Sounds like the Inquisition Thought Police are determined to destroy the First Amendment of the US. But sooner or later whoever seeks to stifle a freedom of someone else will find himself stifled as well.
There’s no “Inquisition Thought Police” here. Nobody is suggesting that Facebook be forced to close these groups. But they should have the decency to do so on their own.
what you don’t seem to understand is that holocaust denial is part of a larger body of thought which includes violence against yidden,especially in ey R”L
Its the internet age old question / dilema.
The first amendment only exists is America – so what happens when someone outside America post something on the internet – is that under American jurisdiction or not?
I prefer antisemitism and hate to be right out where I can see it. So if facebook shuts them down, they will just go somewhere else. I think we should all becomes members of these groups and post all kinds of wacky stuff there! Turn these “hate groups” into the clowns they are really are. Free speech is a two way street!