---
title: "Facebook Waited Until October 12, 2020 to Ban Holocaust Denial"
description: "Facebook, a company that's been around since 2004, announced on October 12, 2020 that it will prohibit posts that deny or distort the Holocaust."
date: "2020-10-12"
modified: "2020-10-12"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/facebook-waited-until-october-2020-ban-holocaust-denial"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
tags:
  - "facebook"
  - "holocaust"
  - "misinformation"
  - "the digest"
---

# Facebook Waited Until October 12, 2020 to Ban Holocaust Denial

![Facebook, a company that's been around since 2004, announced on October 12, 2020 that it will prohibit posts that deny or distort the Holocaust.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/facebook-waited-until-october-2020-ban-holocaust-denial.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Alessio Jacona via Flickr/Futurism\</em\>*

## Oh Right, That

As of Monday, October 12, 2020, Facebook says it will prohibit posts that deny the existence or severity of the Holocaust, a thing that the company didn't already do.

It's another step in a push by Facebook — which has been around for 16 years, mind you — to better manage the [dangerous](<https://futurism.com/eu-facebook-google-twitter-fake-news>) [conspiracy theories](<https://futurism.com/expert-online-disinfo-covid-black-lives-matter>) and [misinformation](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/facebook-catches-16-percent-medical-misinformation>) that get shared and amplified on its platform, *[Business Insider ](<https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-bans-holocaust-denial-posts-after-refusing-removal-content-moderation-2020-10>)*[reports](<https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-bans-holocaust-denial-posts-after-refusing-removal-content-moderation-2020-10>), following a ban last week [of QAnon pages](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/peloton-exercise-bike-fighting-hate-speech-platform>).

## 180 Degrees

Banning Holocaust denial seems reasonable when you have a social platform with billions of active users. But Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg actively pushed to [preserve Holocaust deniers' right](<https://futurism.com/facebook-zuckerberg-infowars-misinformation>) to spread their nonsense on Facebook as recently as 2018.

Zuckerberg [told *Recode*](<https://www.vox.com/2018/7/18/17575156/mark-zuckerberg-interview-facebook-recode-kara-swisher>) back then that "I don't believe that our platform should take that down because I think there are things that different people get wrong."

## Money, Mouth

Now, finally, Facebook is expanding its internal hate speech policy to include "any content that denies or distorts the Holocaust," according to [the company's announcement](<https://about.fb.com/news/2020/10/removing-holocaust-denial-content/>).

Details on the "how" are still scarce. For example, it doesn't clarify what it means to "distort" the Holocaust in Facebook's view, though it's likely a reference to how conspiracy theorists attempt to downplay the genocide's death toll.

Anyone posting Holocaust denial content — and as *BI* reports, that's quite a lot of people — will find themselves redirected to credible resources found off of Facebook, the company says.

**READ MORE:** [Facebook bans Holocaust-denial content after allowing it for years](<https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-bans-holocaust-denial-posts-after-refusing-removal-content-moderation-2020-10>) \[*Business Insider*\]

**More on Facebook:** *[Here’s What It Takes to Get Kicked off Facebook (Hint: It’s A Lot)](<https://futurism.com/facebook-zuckerberg-infowars-misinformation>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)