Update from the Policy Forum on our approach to ‘Zionist’ as a proxy for hate speech

Quarterly report on what people see on Facebook, including the content that receives the widest distribution during the quarter.

We have revisited the issue of speech using the term "Zionists" at various times in recent years, and in March 2024 we examined it through our Policy Forum.

After hearing input and looking at research from different perspectives, we will now remove speech targeting “Zionists” in several areas where our process showed that the speech tends to be used to refer to Jews and Israelis with dehumanizing comparisons, calls for harm, or denials of existence.

One question that emerged during our Policy Forum is how to treat comparisons between proxy terms for nationality (including Zionists) and criminals (e.g., “Zionists are war criminals.”). As such, we referred a bundle of cases to our independent Oversight Board that tee up the issue of criminal comparisons. We look forward to any guidance the Board may provide.

We don't allow people to attack others on our platforms based on their protected characteristics, such as their nationality, race, or religion. Enforcing this policy requires an understanding of how people use language to reference those characteristics. The word “Zionist” has layers of meaning based on its origins and usage today, and may also be highly dependent on context. This term often refers to supporters of a political movement, which is not itself a protected characteristic under our policies, but in some cases may be used as a proxy to refer to Jewish or Israeli people, which are protected characteristics under our Hate Speech policy.

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