Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has announced a significant update to its content moderation policy regarding posts that mention the word "Zionism." The company will now remove more posts that attack Zionism or its supporters when the term is used as a proxy for Jewish people or Israelis in general.
Traditionally, Meta has removed posts that attack individuals based on protected characteristics such as race, nationality, or religion. However, political affiliations have not fallen under this protected class. Meta has observed that the term is increasingly being used as a stand-in for Jewish or Israeli people more broadly than just referring to the national movement of the Jewish people for independence.
📢BREAKING📢 @Meta will ban the use of the term 'Zionist' as an antisemitic proxy for 'Jews'.
The announcement is a much-needed advancement in our ongoing fight against online antisemitism and hatred.
By recognizing and addressing the misuse of the term 'Zionist,' Meta is…
— World Jewish Congress (@WorldJewishCong) July 9, 2024
In a blog post on Tuesday, Meta clarified its new stance: "We will remove content attacking 'Zionists' when it is not explicitly about the political movement, but instead uses antisemitic stereotypes, or threatens other types of harm through intimidation, or violence directed against Jews or Israelis under the guise of attacking Zionists."
Previously, Meta only considered the word "Zionism" as a proxy for Jewish people in very specific cases, such as when Zionists were compared to rats. The updated policy expands the scope of potential violations to include phrases where "Jew" or "Israeli" are not explicitly mentioned.
Neil Potts, vice president of public policy for Meta, revealed that the company has been formally reviewing the use of "Zionists" on its platforms over the past several months. However, discussions on how to effectively moderate the term have been ongoing for the past three years. During this time, Potts and his colleagues have consulted with 145 stakeholders, including academics and civil rights experts from around the world, to help shape the new policy.
In an effort to further refine its approach, Meta has requested input from its external Oversight Board on how to handle comparisons between Zionists and criminals, such as statements like "Zionists are war criminals."
This policy update comes nine months after the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, which resulted in over a thousand deaths and hundreds of hostages. Since the onset of the conflict, Meta has implemented several policy changes aimed at reducing the spread of violent content related to the attack and curbing expressions of support for Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union.
The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), an organization that has been working with the Meta Policy Forum on this and similar issues, has praised the decision.
Sacha Roytman Dratwa, CEO of CAM, expressed support for the policy change saying, "We applaud this decision taken by Meta's Policy Forum, and the understanding that appropriating the term 'Zionists' to hide blatant Jew hatred has no place on their platforms." Dratwa added, "This is an important first step towards ending the immunity and impunity for antisemites online."
