Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a tweet on October 28 raising questions about the Holocaust after Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said earlier in the day Twitter is not banning Holocaust denial from its platform.
Khamenei’s full tweet read: “The next question to ask is: why is it a crime to raise doubts about the Holocaust? Why should anyone who writes about such doubts be imprisoned while insulting the Prophet (pbuh) is allowed?”
The next question to ask is: why is it a crime to raise doubts about the Holocaust? Why should anyone who writes about such doubts be imprisoned while insulting the Prophet (pbuh) is allowed?
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) October 28, 2020
Jewish groups asked Twitter why Khamenei’s tweet is allowed to remain on the platform.
“Holocaust denialism is #hate, pure & simple,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted. “If you had any doubts about the decency of Iran’s leadership, this tells you everything you need to know. Moreover, why is Khameni permitted to consistently espouse #antisemitism that clearly violates Twitter’s policy on #hate speech?”
Holocaust denialism is #hate, pure & simple. If you had any doubts about the decency of Iran's leadership, this tells you everything you need to know. Moreover, why is Khameni permitted to consistently espouse #antisemitism that clearly violates Twitter's policy on #hate speech? https://t.co/1pjdxMUhXR
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) October 28, 2020
The Simon Wiesenthal Center similarly tweeted, “No Ayatollah the real question is why @Twitter gives you free pass to use their platform to push your genocidal threats of Final Solution against the world’s largest Jewish community-the Democratic State of #Israel.”
No Ayatollah the real question is why @Twitter gives you free pass to use their platform to push your genocidal threats of Final Solution against the world’s largest Jewish community-the Democratic State of #Israel. https://t.co/ooRAEUUWws
— SimonWiesenthalCntr (@simonwiesenthal) October 28, 2020
Earlier in the day, Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Col.) asked Dorsey during a Senate hearing about the social media platform’s stance on Holocaust denial, prompting to Dorsey to respond: “We have a policy against misinformation in three categories, which are manipulated media, public health, specifically COVID, and civic integrity, election interference and voter suppression. We do not have a policy or enforcement for any other types of misleading information that you’re mentioning.”
Dorsey then said that Holocaust denial is “misleading information, but we don’t have a policy against that type of misleading information.”
Former New York Times Opinions Editor Bari Weiss tweeted, “Just making sure I’ve got this @Twitter, @jack: oppo dump on [Joe] Biden is misinformation and Holocaust denial is not?” Weiss seemed to be referencing Twitter blocking people from linking to a New York Post article on Hunter Biden’s laptop.
Just making sure I’ve got this @Twitter, @jack: oppo dump on Biden is misinformation and Holocaust denial is not? https://t.co/EtxYtt7p05
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) October 28, 2020
Brooke Goldstein, executive director of The Lawfare Project, similarly said in a statement, “Jack Dorsey told the U.S. Senate that Twitter has no problem with Holocaust denial, one of the most despicable and dangerous forms of Jew Hatred. Allowing the proliferation of Holocaust denial while suppressing other forms of speech is sending a message that it is ok to target Jews.”
However, a Twitter spokesperson seemed to contradict Dorsey in a statement to Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
“Our Hateful Conduct policy prohibits attempts to deny or diminish violent events, and our glorification of violence policy prohibit glorification of genocide including the Holocaust,” the spokesperson said.
In July, a Twitter official told the Israeli Knesset that Khamenei’s tweets are allowed because they’re just “foreign policy saber rattling.”
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