Anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and ‘blackface’ content included in Facebook ban on ‘implicit’ hate speech.
Social media giant Facebook on Tuesday announced explicit bans on conspiracy theories claiming that the world was controlled by a Jewish cabal as well as on “blackface” content that derides black people — but one top Jewish leader characterized the moves as “minor steps.”
A statement on the company’s website authored by its vice president for integrity, Guy Rosen, confirmed that both Facebook and the Facebook-owned platform Instagram had updated their service policies “to more specifically account for certain kinds of implicit hate speech, such as content depicting blackface, or stereotypes about Jewish people controlling the world.”
Rosen added that Facebook had “continued to prioritize the removal of content that violates our policy against hate groups.”
“Since October 2019, we’ve conducted 14 strategic network disruptions to remove 23 different banned organizations, over half of which supported white supremacy,” he noted.
The change in policy came amidst an often rancorous month-long campaign to boycott Facebook advertising because of the continued presence of racist content on the company’s platforms. More than 1,000 US civil rights organizations have been involved in the effort, including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
Jonathan Greenblatt — the ADL’s chief executive — was largely unmoved by Facebook’s shift.
“Let’s be clear, these are minor steps to address urgent issues on the platform,” Greenblatt said on Twitter.
“There’s plenty more work to #StopHateforProfit,” he declared, using the hash tag for the advertising boycott campaign.