Recently the hashtag #HitlerWasRight was trending on social media. A clear indication that globally there remains a strong conviction that the German Nazi regime’s genocide of more than 6 million Jews during the Second World War was the right thing to do. Similar antisemitic narratives, both overt and more insidious, are spreading quickly online. A recent study by the Institute Strategic Dialogue found “#Holohoax”, denying the historical truth of the Holocaust, on 36 Facebook groups with more than 360,000 combined followers, as well as references on Reddit, Twitter and YouTube all created between June 2018 and July 2020.
Social media platforms have become magnets for claims that deny, distort or glorify the history of the Holocaust, such as comparisons between COVID-19 restrictions and the persecution of Jews under the Nazi regime, and the renewed proliferation of the Hitler hashtag during the recent conflict between Israel and Palestine. Often these claims rely on and reproduce deep-rooted antisemitic tropes and narratives, while social media and the cybersphere provide fertile ground to propagate new hatreds based on ignorance and deliberate disinformation.
To address this alarming increase and provide access to fact-based information about the Holocaust, social media firms can make an immediate difference by changing their terms of service and policies.
From 8 July 2021, Facebook will expand the ways it connects people to the website AboutHolocaust.org, developed by the World Jewish Congress in partnership with UNESCO as a comprehensive resource providing essential information about the history of the Holocaust and its legacy. The initiative, which was piloted in English in January, now extends to 12 languages for people around the world.
Holocaust denial, Holocaust distortion and the spreading of conspiracy myths about the Holocaust have become cornerstones in the vicious incitement of antisemitic hatred on the part of white supremacists, neo-Nazis and other extremist forces. Learning the facts of the Holocaust is crucial to combating all those who deliberately desecrate the memory of the millions who were murdered by Nazi Germany and its multinational accomplices in order to promote their reprehensible agenda. The Holocaust is the ultimate example of what can happen when hatred and malicious lies rooted in deliberate misinformation are allowed to thrive.
AboutHolocaust.org counters the rise of Holocaust denial and distortion by providing simple answers to questions such as “What was the Holocaust?”, “How did the Nazis exploit their Jewish victims?” and “Were Jews the only victims of Nazi persecution?”. Knowledge of the history of the Holocaust is of global relevance to counter antisemitism today and prevent genocide and atrocity crimes in the future.
These lessons are relevant for people in every country and context, making Facebook’s expansion into 12 of the 19 languages available on AboutHolocaust.org all the more significant, and a recognition of the crucial global role and responsibility social media companies have in the digital age. UNESCO is undertaking wider consultations with Facebook and other social networks to improve the transparency of decisions around content moderation and other issues, ensure the survival of vibrant independent media, and educate audiences to think critically about information.
It is essential that people all over the world have access to factually-accurate information about the Holocaust. Denial and distortion are forms of contemporary antisemitism, which we must all take an active stand against. In the context of the global rise of misinformation, social media platforms have a role to play in combatting false narratives and hate, and redirecting users to reliable sources of information.
Holocaust denial and distortion, and antisemitism more generally, are deeply intertwined with the rise of online mis- and disinformation worldwide. Education and media information and literacy are all the more important in light of findings such as those from a 2018 MIT study concluding that falsehoods diffuse significantly farther, faster, deeper and more broadly than the truth, with false “news” stories 70 per cent more likely to be retweeted than actual news.
To gain a better understanding of Holocaust distortion online and strengthen educational responses, UNESCO and the United Nations Department of Global Communications, with the support of the WJC, have commissioned an Oxford Internet Institute study of online Holocaust distortion to inform the development of a teachers’ guide and interactive digital educational resources. UNESCO is also a partner in the #ProtectTheFacts social media campaign launched in January 2021 with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, the UN and the European Commission to raise awareness about the dangers of Holocaust denial and distortion though targeted messages on social media.