Report: Facebook Algorithm “Actively Promotes” Holocaust Denial Content 

Facebook is under increasing pressure around the world to take a stronger stand against hate speech. However, the company has thus far refused to label Holocaust denialism as a form of it. That’s why the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), an anti-extremism advocacy group, conducted an investigation to discover just how prevalent these anti-Semitic conspiracy theories are on the platform. What they found was extremely troubling: at least 36 Facebook groups pushing Holocaust denialism to over 366,000 followers. What’s worse, Facebook’s algorithm actively promoted more of this content to these users, sending them further down the rabbit hole of false information.

The group also concluded that Facebook could do more to stop the problem if it wanted, but that its engagement-based incentive model might be preventing it from taking a stand.

“Our findings show that the actions taken by platforms can effectively reduce the volume and visibility of this type of antisemitic content,” ISD research coordinator Jakob Guhl said. “These companies therefore need to ask themselves what type of platform they would like to be: one that earns money by allowing Holocaust denial to flourish, or one that takes a principled stand against it.”

If left to its own devices, Facebook will never change. So it’s a good thing that advocates like ISD are pressuring the company to do better by its users.




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