Page 12 - aruba-today-20201013

A12 Technology
Tuesday 13 OcTOber 2020
Facebook bans Holocaust denial, distortion posts

By MATT O'BRIEN own thinking has evolved time over the past four de-
AP Technology Writer as I've seen data showing cades, and has said it con-
Facebook is banning posts an increase in anti-Semitic tinues to find Holocaust de-
that deny or distort the Ho- violence, as have our wider nial groups on Facebook,
locaust and will start direct- policies on hate speech." some hidden and most pri-
ing people to authoritative Zuckerberg had raised the vate.
sources if they search for ire of the Claims Confer- "While Facebook has made
information about the Nazi ence, based in New York, numerous positive changes
genocide. and others with comments to its policies since that
Facebook CEO Mark Zuck- in 2018 to the tech website time, it stubbornly had held
erberg announced the Recode that posts deny- onto this outrageous plat-
new policy Monday, the ing the Nazi annihilation of form policy, even in the
latest attempt by the com- 6 million Jews would not face of the undeniable
pany to take action against necessarily be removed. threat of growing antisemi-
conspiracy theories and He said he did not think tism and antisemitic vio-
misinformation ahead of This May 16, 2012 file photo shows the Facebook app logo on a Holocaust deniers were lence around the world,"
the U.S. presidential elec- mobile device in Philadelphia. "intentionally" getting it the group's CEO, Jonathan
tion three weeks away. Associated Press wrong, and that as long as Greenblatt, wrote in a blog
The decision comes amid a cott by companies push- where a self-described posts were not calling for post.
push by Holocaust survivors ing Facebook into taking a white supremacist drove harm or violence, even of- The Claims Conference on
around the world who lent stronger stand against vari- into a crowd of counter- fensive content should be Monday said it welcomed
their voices to a campaign ous forms of hate speech protesters. Yet Facebook protected. After an outcry, Zuckerberg's changed ap-
targeting Zuckerberg be- and extremism around the and other companies have Zuckerberg, who is Jewish proach and the company's
ginning this summer, urg- world. been slower to respond to himself, clarified that while decision to take action af-
ing him to take action to Facebook said Monday posts that amplify false in- he personally found "Holo- ter its campaign of survivor
remove Holocaust denial that the new policy "is sup- formation, but don't pose caust denial deeply offen- testimonials.
posts from the social media ported by the well-docu- an immediate threat of sive" he believed that "the "It's a very important state-
site. mented rise in anti-Semitism violence or other physical best way to fight offensive ment and it's a building
Coordinated by the Con- globally and the alarming harm. bad speech is with good block toward ensuring that
ference on Jewish Material level of ignorance about Zuckerberg said in a blog speech." this sort of anti-Semitism is
Claims Against Germany, the Holocaust, especially post Monday that he be- The Anti-Defamation not amplified," said Greg
the #NoDenyingIt cam- among young people." lieves the new policy strikes League said it was relieved Schneider, the group's ex-
paign used Facebook it- Surveys have shown some the "right balance" in draw- by Monday's shift but criti- ecutive vice president.
self to make the survivors' younger Americans believe ing the lines between what cized Facebook for taking The group on Sunday post-
entreaties to Zuckerberg the Holocaust was a myth is and isn't acceptable nearly a decade after the ed its 75th video from a Ho-
heard, posting one video or has been exaggerated. speech. New York-based group first locaust survivor appealing
per day urging him to re- Tech companies began "I've struggled with the ten- began to publicly call on directly to Zuckerberg. Fred
move Holocaust-denying promising to take a firmer sion between standing for the company to curb Ho- Kurz, an American who was
groups, pages and posts as stand against accounts free expression and the locaust denial in 2011. The born in Austria in 1937, de-
hate speech. used to promote hate and harm caused by minimizing group tracked more anti- scribed losing both of his
The testimonials coincided violence after a 2017 rally or denying the horror of the Semitic incidents in the U.S. parents in concentration
with an advertising boy- in Charlottesville, Virginia, Holocaust," he wrote. "My last year than at an any camps. q

Global watchdog proposes tax overhaul for Big Tech

COVID-19 harder. pay their fair share. The U.S., time with further trade ten-
The Paris-based Organiza- however, has resisted. sions,” OECD Secretary-
tion for Economic Coop- France’s plan for its own tax General Angel Gurria said
eration and Development, on digital business has an- in an online press briefing.
which advises the world’s gered U.S. President Don- The OECD’s blueprints seek
top economies, said its ald Trump, who threatened to reduce gaps and mis-
global tax overhaul frame- taxes on French imports, matches in tax rules be-
work will be presented to but both sides are holding tween countries that are
Group of 20 finance minis- off until after the U.S. elec- exploited by companies
ters meeting this week and tion to give time for nego- to avoid paying tax. They
could be implemented by tiations. lay out new rules on where
mid-2021 if an agreement If countries don’t all agree taxes should be paid, with
is reached. The group esti- on the new tax rules, the the aim of making “digi-
mated the measures could OECD warned that there’s tally-intensive or consumer
raise an extra $100 billion in a risk of a global trade war facing” multinational cor-
corporate tax revenues an- triggered by many individu- porations pay taxes even in
nually. al countries launching their places where they do busi-
This long exposure photo shows streaks of lights from the cars
passing by a Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics sign on the The OECD has been try- own digital services taxes ness remotely.
side of a building Monday, Oct. 12, 2020, in Tokyo, as the sky is ing to find a compromise to help their economic re- The new rules also call for
colored by the sunset. among more than 135 covery from the pandemic. countries to adopt a mini-
Associated Press countries on digital taxes, The result is that global eco- mum tax rate, “in order to
By KELVIN CHAN rules to make sure big tech spurred by longstanding nomic growth cut be cut stop treaty shopping and
LONDON (AP) — A global companies pay their dues, demands from France and by more than 1% annually. companies going around
economic watchdog on and warned that failure to other European Union na- “The last thing you want is, finding venues that will
Monday proposed an over- adopt it would make the tions for U.S. digital giants at this time of COVID-19, to treat them better,” Gurria
haul of international tax economic recovery from like Amazon and Google to have to deal at the same said.q