Facebook accused of allowing content glorifying the Bondi massacre to circulate
Posts glorifying the antisemitic attack were still online on December 16, two days after the tragedy
Facebook is facing sharp criticism for failing to moderate content glorifying terrorism following the deadly antisemitic attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney. An investigation by the British daily The Guardian, published on Tuesday, reveals that the social network was slow to remove posts celebrating the massacre of Jews at Bondi Beach, allowing them to gain wide circulation.
According to this report, based on data from the Community Security Trust (CST), Facebook allowed the publication of terrorist propaganda praising the Islamic State organization and the perpetrators of the attack carried out on December 14, the first day of Hanukkah.
The investigation found that posts glorifying the attack were still online as of December 16, two days after the tragedy. Among the content not taken down: a video showing the horrors after the attack accompanied by the caption "Allah is the greatest and praise be to God," which had gathered over 100 likes and dozens of shares.
A photo of one of the terrorists (identified as Sajid Akram and his son Naveed, ISIS sympathizers) with the threatening message “The coming years will be art and hell,” accompanied by praise for a leader of the terrorist organization, has accumulated more than 300 likes.
Dave Rich, policy director at the CST, strongly criticized the tech giant in a statement to the Guardian: "The sheer number of pro-ISIS accounts spreading terrorist content on Facebook is extremely worrying, and posts celebrating the Bondi attack are truly repugnant."
He added: "Social media platforms keep proving, time and again, their inability to assume even their most basic responsibility, putting us all at risk. This simply should not happen anymore."
In response to the Guardian's inquiry, Facebook stated that it is in the process of removing these posts, some of which were identified and taken down after being reported by the newspaper. However, criticism focuses on the fact that the removal only occurred following external intervention and not in a proactive and immediate manner.
This report comes amid growing concern in the West over the resurgence of attempted attacks targeting Jewish communities. Last week, two men were convicted in the United Kingdom for planning to acquire automatic weapons and target Jews in the northwest of England.