Not only Facebook doesn’t say that “Hitler was a good man, a democrat fighting for rights”, as the post claims, but it also sanctions such narratives and fabrications. Regarding the malicious statement that ”it is not by accident” that ”Zelenskyy was tuned to perform at his best”, Facebook has nothing to do with creating or sharing content by users of the social network, who have the freedom to share anything as long as the posts do not violate the rules of Meta. Zelenskyy is popular and “shared” on Facebook due to the fact that he is the President of Ukraine, a country attacked by Russia in an aggressive military invasion and the world is following the entire situation with huge interest, writes Truthmeter.mk.
Under the content-sharing agreement between Truthmeter.mk and Meta.mk, we republish the text below:
We are fact-checking a post published on the social network Facebook (screenshot here) claiming the following:
Facebook says that Hitler was a good man, a peacemaker.
He fought for rights and democracy and it is not by chance that Zelenskyy was tuned to perform at his best.
Such a claim is sheer fabrication, which is very easy to prove. Contrary to the statement made in the post we are fact-checking, back in 2020, Facebook, i.e., Meta published a notice for the users of the social network indicating that it was renewing its policy against hate speech and banning Nazi and antisemitic content, including content distorting the truth about the Holocaust.
Organizations that study trends in hate speech are reporting increases in online attacks against many groups worldwide, and we continue our efforts to remove it. We have banned more than 250 white supremacist organizations and updated our policies to address militia groups and QAnon. We also routinely ban other individuals and organizations globally, and we took down 22.5 million pieces of hate speech from our platform in the second quarter of this year. Following a year of consultation with external experts, we recently banned anti-Semitic stereotypes about the collective power of Jews that often depicts them running the world or its major institutions, specified Meta in 2020.
They inform further that their announcement marks another additional step in the fight against hate speech.
Our decision is supported by the well-documented rise in anti-Semitism globally and the alarming level of ignorance about the Holocaust, especially among young people. According to a recent survey of adults in the US, aged 18-39, almost a quarter said they believed the Holocaust was a myth, that it had been exaggerated or they weren’t sure. Institutions focused on Holocaust research and remembrance have noted that Holocaust education is also a key component in combating anti-Semitism. Beginning later this year, we will direct anyone to credible information off Facebook if they search for terms associated with the Holocaust or its denial on our platform. For many years we have worked with communities around the world to help us understand how hatred, including anti-Semitism, is expressed online. These efforts have included regular discussions with groups that have a global reach, like the World Jewish Congress and the American Jewish Committee, as well as organizations focused on protecting local Jewish communities. We’ve also worked with institutions and groups that combat hate and anti-Semitism such as the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Enforcement of these policies cannot happen overnight. There is a range of content that can violate these policies and it will take some time to train our reviewers and systems on enforcement. We are grateful to many partners for their input, states Meta in its announcement.
The above quotes imply that not only Facebook doesn’t say that ”Hitler is a good man, a democrat fighting for rights”, as claimed by the post, but it also sanctions such narratives and fabrications.
This, however, is not the only disinformation of the post. In addition, the post, purposefully, states that ”Zelenskyy was tuned to perform at his best”, and that that was ”not by chance”.
However, the content on Facebook featuring Zelenskyy, who is of Jewish origin, comes from external sources, media, sites, governmental and non-governmental announcements, reports, institutions, etc…. Facebook has nothing to do with the creation or sharing by the users of the social network who have absolute freedom to share whatever content they like as long as it in compliance with Meta rules. Zelenskyy is popular and “shared” on Facebook (“performing at his best”, as the post claims) due to the fact that he is the President of Ukraine, a country attacked by Russia in an aggressive military invasion since February 2022, and the world is following the entire situation with huge interest. Under such circumstances, it is quite logical to publish and share content about the addresses or statements of the President of Ukraine.
Due to all of the above-noted facts, the fact-checked post is assessed as untrue. It is not true that Facebook says that ”Hitler was a good man, a peace-maker fighting for rights and democracy”.
