Farley Weiss
Farley WeissYoni Kempinski

The National Council of Young Israel (NCYI) on Thursday called on Facebook to take immediate steps to bar Holocaust deniers from the popular social media site.

On Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended Holocaust deniers' "right" to publish posts denying the Holocaust, even though he claimed to find their positions "deeply offensive."

"By knowingly providing a public platform for Holocaust deniers to spew their malicious lies, Facebook is validating a dangerous form of anti-Semitism that has no place in a civilized society," NCYI President Farley Weiss said.

"Denying the heinous and indescribable atrocities carried out by the Nazis is a terrible affront to the memories of the six-million innocent Jewish men, women and children who perished during one of the darkest chapters in world history, and it is unfathomable that Facebook allows itself to be used as a vehicle to perpetuate such a blatant distortion of what took place during the Holocaust."

"This is not a freedom of speech issue; rather, it is a question of inciting hatred against Jews, which Facebook cannot and should not condone in any way," continued Weiss. "Facebook must immediately cease permitting its users to brazenly spread misinformation about the tragic fate that befell the Jews during the Holocaust and stop giving license to hatemongers who engage in blatant anti-Semitism and revisionist history."