Holocaust Denial Post

UPDATED

AUG 31, 2023

2023-022-IG-UA

Today, the Oversight Board selected a case appealed by an Instagram user regarding a photo containing a list of false facts about the Holocaust which, as a result, imply denial of the Holocaust. Some of the false facts included speculation around mentions of the Holocaust by allied leaders and the false suggestion that infrastructure for carrying out the Holocaust was not built until after the war.

Upon initial review, Meta left this content up. However, upon further review, we determined the content did in fact violate our policy on Hate Speech, as laid out in the Facebook Community Standards and Instagram Community Guidelines, and was left up in error. We therefore removed the content.

Meta removes content that contains hate speech, including “harmful stereotypes linked to intimidation, exclusion, or violence on the basis of a protected characteristic” such as Holocaust denial. Holocaust denial includes content that “denies, calls into doubt, or minimizes the fact that the Holocaust happened, the number of victims, or the mechanisms of destruction used.”

We will implement the board’s decision once it has finished deliberating, and we will update this post accordingly. Please see the Board’s website for the decision when they issue it.