TORONTO, August 16, 2011: B’nai Brith Canada, the leading Jewish human rights organization in Canada, supports the Online Hate Working Group of the Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism’s call to Facebook to treat Holocaust Denial as an incitement to hatred. The exception for Holocaust Denial material as a form of hatred on this social forum must end.
Frank Dimant, CEO of B’nai Brith Canada stated, “ Antisemitism in all its forms is an ever-increasing problem worldwide. The Internet has become a major purveyor of this type of hatred. As a member of the Global Forum, we applaud the efforts of the working group to find solutions to the problem. By enforcing its own rules and recognizing that Holocaust Denial on its social network is an expression of hate, Facebook can be part of the solution.
“We have recently called on Facebook to ensure that it is not used as a forum to incite hatred and even violence. The Working Group has made an important step in this fight. We urge all Facebook users to join in the call to put a stop to hatred in all its forms.”
The Working Group is co-chaired by David Matas, senior legal counsel of B’nai Brith Canada. As David Matas stated, “the Facebook policy against hate speech should apply to all content without exception.”
David Matas is available for interviews by contacting B’nai Brith Canada.
