Anti-semitism is bad. This is something everyone can agree on. Except for Twitter.
On October 18, Facebook removed a video of Rev. Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, referring to Jewish people as “termites” from his page. However, the video still remains on Twitter, along with a new tweet from Farrakhan claiming that he doesn’t “hate anyone for their religious preferences.” A Facebook representative told The Wrap, “The video was taken down because it violates our hate speech policies.”
However, not only does the original offending video remain on Twitter, but also it’s not even Farrakhan’s first offense. The social media platform told Buzzfeed on October 17 that “Louis Farrakhan’s tweet comparing Jews to termites is not in violation of the company’s policies. The policy on dehumanizing language has not yet been implemented.” This also excused the Nation of Islam’s twitter account, which reposted the video.
Farrakhan said, “In fact, to the members of the Jewish community that don’t like me, thank you very much for putting my name all over the planet because of your fear of what we represent, I can go anywhere in the world and they’ve heard of Farrakhan. Thank you very much. I’m not mad at you, because you’re so stupid. . . So when they talk about Farrakhan, call me a hater, call me anti-Semite. Stop it. I’m anti-Termite.”
In previous sermons, Farrakhan has said, “Satanic Jews have infected the whole world with poison and deceit.” In February 2018, he stated, “Powerful Jews are my enemy.”
Facebook told The Wrap, “Farrakhan refers to Jews as termites, which amounts to Tier 1 hate speech.” In addition, the violation apparently “placed a strike” on Farrakhan’s account.
Farrakhan has received condemnation on all sides. Presidential daughter Chelsea Clinton, CNN anchor Jake Tapper, and other liberals have joined with conservative voices against Farrakhan. But Twitter’s refusal to move on its position says it all.
Conservatives get suspended or banned from Twitter at the drop of a pin. Pro-life accounts can’t promote their tweets on Twitter because they “violate policy.” As soon as a conservative says something that one person might take the wrong way, they are censored almost immediately. But when someone on Twitter actually says something that’s threatening and racist, it is left up with no consequences.
