posts about Zionists, the term often being used in association with Jews and Israelis.
Meta Policy Forum revealed in March that the term Zionists has been used in the last years in relation to Jews and Israelis. The term refers to a political movement, but the usage in social media differs. Zionists are people from a Jewish nationalist political movement. They believe that Jews should live again in Palestine, considered the Land of Israel in their tradition.
The political movement is not protected by Facebook and Instagram’s hate speech policy. However, hate speech on social media is banned when it denigrates people.
Meta values the experience its user has on social media. They realized how common hate speech on social media is, so they updated the policy so their user is safer on the platforms.
What is hate speech on social media? According to Meta’s Hate Speech policy, hate speech is defined as direct attacks or dehumanizing speech against people based on their race, nationality, disability, religion, gender identity, sex, etc.
In the past, Meta would remove hate speech posts referring to “Zionists” in two circumstances: “(1) where Zionists are compared to rats, reflecting known antisemitic imagery, and (2) where the context makes clear that 'Zionist' means 'Jew' or 'Israeli.”. Those instances are still valid, but now hate speech on social media covers more instances. Meta will remove the posts about the Zionists when they show antisemitic behavior, threatening the safety and well-being of Jews and Israelis.
Some of the more specific instances that will now make the subject of the new update are:
- “Claims about running the world or controlling the media;
- Dehumanizing comparisons, such as comparisons to pigs, filth, or vermin;
- Calls for physical harm;
- Denials of existence;
- Mocking for having a disease.”
Removing the posts that show antisemitic behavior will not be the only action Meta will take. The constant and repeated violation of this policy will result in suspension or even removal of the account.
The policy could be updated again soon. Meta confirmed that they are still reviewing a case that could be considered hate speech. The situation is the comparison of Zionists with criminals. Even tho, at first glance, it seems a no-brainer, Meta has an explanation for this delay. Often, the terms referring to groups of people are used as synonyms for government or military. In this case, the posts refer to political beliefs and are not considered hate speech on social media.
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