Zuckerberg under fire over comments on Holocaust denial

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Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has caused a firestorm after saying in an interview this week that social media posts denying the Holocaust need not be removed from his platform, drawing criticism from many including the German government.

In a podcast interview with tech website Recode on Wednesday, Zuckerberg was asked about material that was deemed acceptable or not on Facebook and how the platform dealt with it.

Unprompted, Zuckerberg gave the example of Holocaust deniers.

"I’m Jewish, and there’s a set of people who deny that the Holocaust happened," he said, according to a transcript of the interview posted on Recode’s website.

People take part in the 'Berlin wears kippa' event to show solidarity with Jews after a series of anti-Semitic incidents in Germany, April 25, 2018. /VCG Photo

"I find that deeply offensive. But at the end of the day, I don’t believe that our platform should take that down because I think there are things that different people get wrong. I don’t think that they’re intentionally getting it wrong."

"As abhorrent as some of those examples are… I just don’t think that it is the right thing to say, ‘We’re going to take someone off the platform if they get things wrong, even multiple times'."

The remarks caused a backlash on social media, and Germany – where Holocaust denial is a punishable crime – quickly waded into the debate.

"There must be no place for anti-Semitism. This includes verbal and physical attacks on Jews as well as the denial of Holocaust," Justice Minister Katarina Barley said on Thursday.

"Nobody should defend anyone who denies the Holocaust," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also tweeted.

Germany has enforced a law imposing fines of up to 50 million euros (58 million US dollars) on social media sites that fail to remove hateful messages promptly.

Berlin schoolchildren participate in the spring cleaning of 'Stolpersteine' memorials to Holocaust victims in Berlin, Germany, March 20, 2018. /VCG Photo

Zuckerberg has been forced to backtrack on his Recode comments, saying if any post advocated violence or hate against a group, it would be removed.

"I personally find Holocaust denial deeply offensive, and I absolutely didn’t intend to defend the intent of people who deny that," he said in an emailed statement to Recode.

Governments and rights groups have attacked Facebook in the past for not doing enough to stem hate speech.

The platform has been blamed for failing to curb incitations to violence against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and its WhatsApp messaging service has been implicated in lynchings and mob violence in India

Facebook is now rolling out a new policy globally to remove bogus posts likely to spark violence.

(With input from agencies)