Twitter says it will remove Holocaust denial tweets

Twitter will delete Holocaust denial tweets, which it says violate the company’s hateful conduct policy. Bloomberg first reported on the stance, which a Twitter spokesperson confirmed to Engadget. Twitter’s clarification follows a Facebook ban on Holocaust denial content earlier this week.

Facebook’s updated policy doesn’t extend to denials of other genocides, such as the Armenian or Rwandan atrocities. However, such denials appear to be prohibited under Twitter’s glorification of violence policy.

“We strongly condemn anti-semitism, and hateful conduct has absolutely no place on our service,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Our Hateful Conduct Policy prohibits a wide range of behavior, including making references to violent events or types of violence where protected categories were the primary victims, or attempts to deny or diminish such events. We also have a robust ‘glorification of violence’ policy in place and take action against content that glorifies or praises historical acts of violence and genocide, including the Holocaust.”

According to Twitter, it uses a human rights framework to guide its policy decisions. The framework covers issues such as reducing hateful conduct, protecting human dignity and promoting tolerance and respect. The company says it works with a number of partners to tackle anti-Semitic conduct on the platform including NGOs, the Jewish community, governments and civil society partners.