Half of The Holocaust Content On Telegram Denies The Facts Of The Massacre Of Jews In World War II

Half Holocaust Content on Telegram denies Jewish massacre, (photo: doc. pixabay)

JAKARTA - About half of the public Holocaust-related content on messaging service Telegram denies or distorts the facts about the killing of six million Jews in Europe in the Holocaust. This is revealed in a new study by the UN's cultural agency.

A UNESCO report found that 80% of German-language public messages about the Nazi genocide during World War Two deny or distort the facts. The same goes for 50% of English and French posts about the Holocaust.

The study analyzed 4.000 Holocaust-related posts across the top five social media platforms, and found rejection or distortion in 19% of content on Twitter, 17% on TikTok, 8% on Facebook, and 3% on Instagram.

The report defines distortion as posts celebrating genocide, smearing or blaming its victims, likening it to other events such as Israel's policy towards Palestine, or omitting facts about Nazi perpetrators and their collaborators.

Asked about the report, a Telegram spokesperson said: "Telegram is a platform for free speech where people are welcome to express their opinions peacefully, including those we disagree with."

The spokesperson said posts glorifying or encouraging violence or its perpetrators are prohibited, and removed through moderation or user reports.

According to tech website Backlinko, Dubai-based Telegram is active in 155 countries, launching in 2013. The other social media companies named in the report did not respond to requests for comment.

"We must never forget how easily hate speech can turn into a hate crime; how ignorance or indifference can lead to intolerance; or how silence in the face of bigotry is complicity," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement.

"Today, the crack is impossible to ignore," Guterres said.

He said the findings showed a close link between Holocaust denial and other online violence rooted in racism, misogyny and xenophobia.

Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms Inc owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, while TikTok is owned by China's ByteDance. Twitter faces a possible takeover from Elon Musk, the world's richest man.

UNESCO found that even on moderated platforms, deniers and distorters evade censorship by using humorous and parodic memes to normalize anti-Semitic ideas.

It is recommended that governments invest in developing public media literacy and that platforms take action on such content and redirect to verified information.