
On Facebook, there are several groups revolving around Holocaust Denial. Holocaust Denial is a conspiracy theory that the genocide of Jewish people during World War II did not occur or to the extent that history recognizes. Holocaust Denial believers claim that the Holocaust was a hoax that was create as a Jewish conspiracy to advance their race at the expense of others. Last week an individual that was a Holocaust Denial follower entered a Holocaust museum with a concealed weapon and shot the security guard, killing him.
This 88 year old man is James von Brunn and he was shot in the face when starting a shootout at the museum. Two other security guards shot the man after he killed the first security guard. Brunn is expected to survive.
Brian Cuban first noticed the Holocaust Denial groups on Facebook back in November 2008 and sent them a notice. Facebook kept a firm position in allowing the groups to remain on their social network to facilitate open discussion based on free speech.
“It’s a difficult decision to make. We have a lot of internal debate and we bring in experts to talk about it,” Schnitt said. “Just being offensive or objectionable doesn’t get it taken off Facebook. We want it [the site] to be a place where people can discuss all kinds of ideas, including controversial ones,” stated Facebook representative Barry Schnitt in an interview with CNN.
After hearing about situations involving the shooting at the museum and several other incidents, I find myself thinking that Facebook is wrong for hosting a discussion that involves discrimination.
Facebook removed pictures of women breast-feeding if there was nipping showing within the last year because they said it was “indecent.” Hosting a discussion that facilitates discrimination against Jewish people is also indecent. Or what about the removal of the Ku Klux Klan groups on Facebook? Why shut down the groups of one hate group, but not penalize others?
Going back to the removal of pictures with a nipple exploited, what about paintings? There are several paintings that were created during the Renaissance period where the breasts of women were showing. Is that considered “indecent.” The way I see it, if I uploaded a picture of one of those artistic pieces it would be a lot more decent than a discussion a group is having about how Jewish people should be discriminated against.
Freedom of speech is one of the greatest laws our country has, but anytime it may contribute to acts of violence I strongly believe in censorship. If Facebook is going to allow Holocaust Denial discussions to take place, they should be willing to monitor the groups closely around the clock and report the potential of any acts of violence that may take place as a result of discussions taking place on their social network.
Any time certain keywords like “kill” or “gun” in the groups, the FBI should be notified. This way the FBI can determine whether the individuals making the threats do or do not have any intentions in carrying them out.