On Thursday, Media Research Center President Brent Bozell and other conservative leaders released the following joint letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. They described the “alarming rise of anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic rhetoric in public discourse, especially online” and called for clarification on social media rules regarding hate speech policies.
The full letter can be found below:
May 16, 2019
Dear Mr. Dorsey & Mr. Zuckerberg,
We are writing to you today about the alarming rise of anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic rhetoric in public discourse, especially online. We are asking for clarity on whether your rules governing “hate speech” on your platforms apply to anti-Semitic rhetoric, and what your policies are to address those who traffic in such speech.
Recently, the New York Times triggered a national uproar when it ran an anti-Semitic cartoon depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a dog on a leash held by President Trump. The Times apologized for running the cartoon, but questions remain as to why the editors of the paper allowed it to be run in the first place. Then the Times printed another anti-Netanyahu cartoon. This time the paper depicted him as a blind Moses-like figure holding a tablet with the Israeli flag on it instead of the Ten Commandments. The Times issued a statement that it was suspending the publication of cartoons, but claimed that this cartoon did not fall into the same category as the first one.
Earlier this year, U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar used an anti-Semitic trope or stereotype by painting Jews as both money and power hungry in a tweet referring to AIPAC that said “It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” a reference to a song about $100 bills. The comments were rightly criticized in a bipartisan fashion. Omar had to apologize, but she keeps making the same type of comments.
Now U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib has come forward and made the comment that she has a “calming feeling, I tell folks, when I think of the Holocaust.” These comments are not out of context. The downplaying of the Holocaust was made on the Yahoo News podcast “Skullduggery.” She won’t even apologize.
The Free Speech Alliance (FSA) is a coalition of more than 45 organizations dedicated to holding online companies like Facebook accountable for fair treatment of conservatives. The FSA was formed because of well-documented efforts to silence conservatives in the public discourse online.
Among the stated goals of the FSA is the demand for clarity in the rules governing hate speech on your platform and the assurance that those rules are applied evenly. Therefore, we ask that you answer the following questions about your policies towards anti-Semitic speech.
1) Do you join with Jewish leaders in condemning the comments made by Representatives Omar and Tlaib as anti-Semitic rhetoric?
2) Do you consider anti-Semitic rhetoric hate speech in violation of your terms of service?
3) Is it consistent with your terms of service to allow individuals, or organizations, who express anti-Semitic rhetoric to remain on your platform?
We look forward to your prompt reply clarifying your rules and their application. We will publish your response in its entirety.
Sincerely,
L. Brent Bozell III
Founder and President
Media Research Center
James O’Keefe
Founder and President
Project Veritas
Elaine Donnelly
President
Center for Military Readiness
Everett Piper, PhD
President
Oklahoma Wesleyan University
Kevin Freeman
Founder
NSIC Institute
Lieutenant Colonel Allen B. West
(US Army, Retired)
Member, 112th US Congress
Senior Fellow, Media Research Center
Floyd Brown
Publisher
Western Journal
Gene Mills
President
Louisiana Family Forum
Christie-Lee McNally
Executive Director
Free Our Internet
Tony Perkins
President
Family Research Council
David N. Bossie
President
Citizens United
Dr. Ted Baehr
The Christian Film & Television Commission
Gary Bauer
President
American Values
Mark J. Fitzgibbons
President of Corporate Affairs
American Target Advertising, Inc.
Tricia Erickson
President
Angel Pictures & Publicity, Inc.
Lady Brigitte Gabriel
Founder & Chairman
ACT for America
Steven Ertelt
Editor
LifeNews.com
Terry Schilling
Executive Director
American Principles Project
John-Henry Westen
Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief
LifeSiteNews.com
Morton Blackwell
Chairman
The Weyrich Lunch
Ron Robinson
President
Young America’s Foundation
Rod D. Martin
Founder & CEO
The Martin Organization, Inc.
Mat Staver
Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel
Justin Danhof
General Counsel
National Center for Public Policy Research
Susan Carleson
Chairman and CEO
The American Civil Rights Union
Gene Mills
President
Louisiana Family Forum
Frank Gaffney
Founder and Executive Chairman
Center for Security Policy
Saulius “Saul” Anuzis
President
60 Plus Association
James L. Martin
Founder/Chairman
60 Plus Association
Tim Wildmon
President
American Family Association
Jeff Hunt
Director
Centennial Institute
Austin Ruse
President
Center for Family and Human Rights
John Hinderaker
President
Center of the American Experiment
James Nolan
President
Crossroads Pro-Life Walks Across America
Tom McCabe
CEO
Freedom Foundation
Tim Huelskamp
President
The Heartland Institute
Charles Copeland
President
Intercollegiate Studies Institute
Brian Brown
President
International Organization for the Family
Lila Rose
President
Live Action
Ryan Bomberger
President and CEO
Radiance Foundation
Paul Gessing
President
Rio Grande Foundation
Diana Banister
President
Shirley & Banister Public Affairs
Kristan Hawkins
President
Students for Life of America
Jenny Beth Martin
Chairman
Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund
C. Preston Noell
President
Tradition Family Property
Joseph Farah
Founder and CEO
WND
Amy Kremer
Co-Chair
Women for Trump
