Facebook slow to act on posts celebrating murder of Jews, anti-hate group says | Facebook
A leading anti-hate group has claimed that Facebook hosts terrorist propaganda celebrating the killing of Jews and praising the Islamic State.
The posts also included celebrations of the Bondi beach massacre. Community Safety Trust He says Facebook was too slow to shut down. On December 16, two days after the attack, the posts were still on Facebook and receiving shares and likes.
Some accounts are based in the UK and Anti-terrorism police in England as an emergency.
In one post, a video showing the aftermath of the Bondi beach attack, allegedly carried out by a father and son who support ISIS, reads: “Allah is the greatest and all praise be to Allah.” It was clearly visible, with over 100 likes, 27 comments and four saved shares.
On December 14, 15 people celebrating the Jewish Hanukkah holiday in Sydney died. One of the attackers also died.
Another post showed a photo of one of the gunmen at Bondi beach, said: “The coming years are art and hell” and included praise for an ISIS leader. This received 12 shares and over 300 likes.
After contacting the Guardian, Facebook said it was in the process of removing some of the posts, while others had already been identified and removed.
Dave Rich, policy director at CST, which works to protect Jewish people from attacks, said: “The sheer number of ISIS-supporting accounts on Facebook promoting terrorist content is extremely worrying and the posts celebrating the Bondi terror attack are deeply sickening.
“Again, social media companies are failing to meet even their most basic responsibilities and are endangering us all as a result. This must no longer be the case. We will call on Ofcom to urgently investigate Meta’s failings and take strong action where possible.”
Media regulator Ofcom said: “If a post is currently reported to a platform, the platform must decide whether the content is illegal under UK law and, if so, remove it quickly. Our job is to make sure sites and apps have appropriate safeguards in place to carry out their duties.”
It said it had obtained “evidence showing the continuation of terrorist content and illegal hate speech on some of the largest social media sites.”
A spokesman for Meta, which owns Facebook, declined to answer a series of questions but said: “The content was removed because it violated our policies on dangerous organizations and individuals.”
A Ministry of Internal Affairs spokesman said: “Social media content that promotes terrorism or violence against communities is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated. The law is clear: Social media platforms must take action to prevent illegal content, including terrorist and violent material, on their sites.”
The focus on pro-ISIS material on popular social media sites comes amid concerns about increasing terrorist efforts targeting Jewish people in the West.
On 22 December two men were convicted of a plot to buy machine guns and shoot Jews in the north-west of England. In this plot and the Sydney massacre, the approach of both groups of terrorists was somewhat complex.
Although neither was “led” by ISIS, the Sydney attackers visited the Philippines The machine gun plotters in north-west England made contact with an ISIS man abroad and were savvy enough to bypass the security of the Jewish community and infiltrate a Facebook group to give them information about potential Jewish targets.
Rich said of the British plot: “This is a much more serious conspiracy than the attack on the synagogue in Heaton Park and indicates a much higher level of education and knowledge.”
Vicki Evans, senior national co-ordinator for counter-terrorism policing, told the Guardian: “The terrorist threats we face do not stand still and we rarely confine them to history. Instead, their intensity and risk flex over time – and so does our response.”
“The recent attacks in Manchester and Australia are a stark reminder of the range of threats we face, and we continue to ask the public to: Report your concerns they see it in their real-world or online communities.
