Internet users who search for information about the Holocaust on Facebook will now be prompted to visit a website on the attempted annihilation curated by the World Jewish Congress and UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, JTA reported on Wednesday.
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Starting Wednesday, which is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, users will see a box labeled "Learning About the Holocaust" when they search for related terms. Similar boxes with resources pop up after searching about things such as the COVID-19 pandemic and US elections, which social media giants have said is a tool to counter what they term as misinformation.
"The Holocaust was the organized persecution and killing of 6 million Jewish people, alongside other targeted groups, by the Nazis and their collaborators during World War II," the box reads. "Learning about the Holocaust can help prevent future genocides and other acts of hatred based on religion, ethnicity or other differences."
WJC President Ronald Lauder said the new tool could help counter Holocaust ignorance among the young. A study last fall on Gen Z's knowledge regarding the mechanized slaughter found a shocking lack of knowledge on the subject – nationally, 48% of respondents said they couldn't name a single concentration came, while even more worryingly, Eleven percent thought that Jews caused the Holocaust.
"It is saddening and disconcerting that 75 years after the end of World War II, roughly 50% of the world does not even know that the Holocaust occurred, or that Jews were targeted for genocide in Europe," Lauder said in a statement.
Another factor spurring the prompt is the proliferation of hate speech on social media. Facebook has come under fire in recent years for not adequately stemming hate speech, incitement and disinformation.
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Facebook now works to removes hate speech, including Holocaust denial. In October, the social media behemoth said that it would update its hate speech policy, including redirecting people to authoritative sources.
"At a time of rising hate and intolerance, taking time to read and reflect on what happened to Jews and others in Europe is more important than ever," said Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg in a news release.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
