RSS
Meta Oversight Board Reverses Decision on Holocaust Denial Content
Social media applications, showing Twitter before it was changed to ‘X.’ Photo: Public Domain.
Meta’s Oversight Board reversed a company decision to allow Holocaust denial content on its platforms which include Facebook and Instagram just days ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day, drawing praise from leading Jewish civil rights groups.
In a statement, Meta’s Oversight Board, an independent body created in 2020, said the “prohibition is consistent with Meta’s human right’s responsibilities” and that “it is important to understand Holocaust denial as an element of antisemitism, which is discriminatory in its consequences.”
The decision was precipitated by an antisemitic meme spread in 2020 featuring Squidward Tentacles — a recurring character in the SpongeBob Squarepants animated.
Titled, “Fun Facts About the Holocaust,” the meme spread conspiracies about the Holocaust, denying that 6 million Jews were murdered by Nazi Germany and that Jews were burned at Auschwitz. Despite being the subject of several complaints and being reviewed by, in the company’s words, “two human reviewers,” Meta initially ruled that the meme did not violate its content policies — often referred to as “community standards” — on hate speech and transferred the matter to the Oversight Board.
“The Board finds that this content violates Meta’s Hate Speech Community Standard, which prohibits Holocaust denial on Facebook and Instagram,” the company said on Tuesday. “Experts consulted by the Board confirmed that all the post’s claims about the Holocaust were either blatantly untrue or misrepresented historical facts. Additionally, the board is concerned that Meta did not remove this content even after the company changed its policies to explicitly prohibit Holocaust denial, despite human and automated reviews.”
The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC), a Jewish human rights organization, praised the decision.
Commenting to The Algemeiner about Meta’s announcement on Wednesday, SWC’s Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action Rabbi Abraham said it was “better late than never,” explaining that he and SCW founder Rabbi Marvin Heir had stressed to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in private conversations why the “Squidward” meme and all Holocaust denial content is distressing and offensive to the Jewish community.
“It took tremendous pressure and years to get them to do this,” Abraham said. “We welcome the announcement on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, and we hope that they are taking the necessary steps to make sure that hate groups and terrorists do not take advantage of their technology.”
The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, a nonprofit that has litigated numerous civil rights complaints and fought to eradicate antisemitism from public life, applauded Meta’s decision, citing its own counsel to Meta on the matter during a public comment period.
“We commend Meta’s Oversight Board for recognizing the inexorable logic that using anti-Semitic [sic] conspiracy theories to attempt to falsely deny mass atrocities conclusively proven in court and admitted by the perpetrators is anti-Semitic, and consequently falls within Meta’s hat speech policy,” the group said.
Meta’s platforms have been plagued with antisemitic content over the past three years, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic and Israel’s 2021 war with Hamas.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Meta Oversight Board Reverses Decision on Holocaust Denial Content first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
The post Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
The post Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
The post Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors first appeared on Algemeiner.com.