Anne Frank Center asks Facebook to remove Holocaust denial pages

The Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect is calling out Facebook for allowing Holocaust denial pages on its site. And the center is doing so through a petition in which it's requesting Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg take them down. "When these pages spread lies and untruths, it is veiled hatred and anti-semitism designed to cast doubt on facts," the center says in the Change.org petition. "There is a difference between providing a platform for free expression and knowingly spreading false information and lies. Denying the Holocaust causes harm."

Though Facebook has attempted to stem the spread of misinformation on its site in various ways since acknowledging its fake news problem, the issue still persists. In some cases, that's because Facebook has made an active decision to leave misinformation on its site.

Take, for example, last month, when CEO Mark Zuckerberg responded to a question from Recode's Kara Swisher about why Facebook allows groups like InfoWars or Sandy Hook deniers to stay on its platform. "What we will do is we'll say, 'Okay, you have your page, and if you're not trying to organize harm against someone, or attacking someone, then you can put up that content on your page, even if people might disagree with it or find it offensive,'" said Zuckerberg. He also went on to say that he didn't think Holocaust deniers were intentionally getting the story wrong, though he later walked that back, saying he never intended to defend them.

But the Anne Frank Center says those denying the Holocaust occurred do cause harm and the pages that spread their untruths "foster hatred, division and racism," which is why it is calling on the company to "take action and help stop this dissemination of hate." As of writing, the petition had 69,146 signatures.

Source: Change.org



via Engadget RSS Feed https://ift.tt/2nt7cGV
RSS Feed

If New feed item from http://www.engadget.com/rss-full.xml, then send me

IFTTT

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Evernote cuts staff as user growth stalls

Image
Note-taking app Evernote has fallen on hard times of late, culminating in its latest spate of job cuts impacting 15 percent of its workforce (54 employees). CEO Chris O' Neil -- an ex-Googler who took the reins in 2015 -- announced the firings at an all-hands meeting earlier today, reports TechCrunch . In a message on the Evernote blog , O' Neill admitted he'd set "incredibly aggressive goals" for the company in 2018. He continued: "Going forward, we are streamlining certain functions, like sales, so we can continue to speed up and scale others, like product development and engineering." The layoffs follow an exec exodus just weeks ago and the company's recent brand refresh (complete with a refined logo and wordmark). But critics are more concerned about its product, especially the free tier, which they claim lacks the perks to...
Read more

The best air conditioner

Image
By Liam McCabe This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter . When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here . After six summers of researching, testing, and recommending window air conditioners, we've learned that quiet and affordable ACs make most people the happiest—and we think the LG LW8016ER will fit the bill in most rooms. This 8,000 Btu unit cools as efficiently and effectively as any model with an equal Btu rating, and runs at a lower volume and deeper pitch than others at this price. Little extra features like a fresh-air vent, two-axis fan blades, and a removable drain plug help set it apart, too. The LG LW8016ER is a top choice for an office or den, and some people will find it quiet enough for a bedroom, too. If our main pic...
Read more

We won't see a 'universal' vape oil cartridge anytime soon

Image
Pre-loaded cartridges of cannabis concentrate are currently among the most popular means of consumption, and for good reason. They're discreet to use and easy to handle, a far cry from the dark days of 2016 when we had to dribble hash oil or load wax into narrow-mouthed vape pens by hand. But, frustratingly, an ever increasing number of oil cartridge manufacturers employ one-off design standards so that their products won't work with those of their competitors, thereby locking customers into proprietary ecosystems. We've already seen this with nicotine vaporizers -- which has a seen a massive rise in "pod systems" in the last few years, each outfitted with a unique canister and battery built to be incompatible with those of their competition. Is it too late for the burgeoning cannabis industry to set a universal standard for their product designs? ...
Read more