Facebook Puts Holocaust Denial Groups in Top Search Results

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By Alyssa Fisher July 23, 2018

Mark Zuckerberg insisted Facebook is burying Holocaust denial at the bottom of search results, but actual search results say otherwise, according to the Daily Beast.

Facebook still puts groups devoted to denying the idea that six million died in the Holocaust among the top results for searches on the site, as well as in searches through the groups section of the site, Business Insider reported.

However, in a recent interview with Recode, Facebook’s CEO claimed that while he finds Holocaust deniers “deeply offensive,” their posts are not removed from the social network because it is unclear if they were written maliciously or in ignorance.

Hours after the interview went live on the Recode Decode podcast and a transcript was published on the website, Zuckerberg sent an email to tech journalist Kara Swisher to clear up any misconceptions.

“Our goal with fake news is not to prevent anyone from saying something untrue — but to stop fake news and misinformation spreading across our services,” he wrote. “If something is spreading and is rated false by fact checkers, it would lose the vast majority of its distribution in News Feed. And of course if a post crossed line into advocating for violence or hate against a particular group, it would be removed.”

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at fisher@forward.com, or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

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