An anti-Semitic Facebook page called Jewish Ritual Murder is still up and growing one year after Facebook drew intense criticism for claiming the page did not violate its community standards.
The page was originally flagged by CAMERA”s media analyst Dexter Van Zile, in February 2014. It depicts an assortment of conspiracy theories about Jews, including accusations that Jews use the blood of Christians for their religious rituals.
At the time, Van Zile lambasted Facebook for refusing to remove the page. However, he also expressed a small measure of optimism that the social media giant would come to its senses in a matter of time.
“Will the page eventually be removed? Probably. But why doesn’t Facebook delete this stuff when first apprised of its presence on their website?” Van Zile wrote last February. “Why should it take any more than one complaint for Facebook to do the right thing?”
As pressure increased, the Anti-Defamation League issued a statement calling on Facebook to remove the page. In August, Facebook informed those who complained thatthe page had been removed.
Within 24 hours, however, the page was up again, and Facebook announced that “We revised our decision,” and “found it doesn’t violate our Community Standards.”
When the page was first restored, it had 662 members. The number is up to 799 today, with posts as recent as September 2014. Posts from the past year include links to download anti-Semitic literature.
Facebook, however, remains firm in its stance that the page falls with its community standards. As recently as this week, an HonestReporting reader filed a report against the group and received the following response:
According to HonestReporting Managing Editor Simon Plosker, the ongoing presence of anti-Semitism on Facebook demonstrates the need to keep pushing the site to take definitive action.
“Facebook needs to understand that they can’t allow anti-Semitism and still claim to pursue a “safe and welcoming environment,’” Plosker said. “Facebook cannot simply sweep the issue under the rug, even as the page grows and infects more people.”
