Areas for Addressing Holocaust Distortion

Monitors of hate speech or hate crimes regularly encounter distortion, but current  statistical indicators, including those focused on antisemitism, insufficiently address it.  Specific tools are needed for identifying and tracking this phenomenon, such as: 

• Developing guidelines for groups that monitor hate speech and hate crime so they  can deal with distortion in an effective way that also respects universal standards  for human rights, including freedom of expression 
• Encouraging the use of transparent methodologies for tracking and monitoring,  that facilitate sharing of information to enhance accountability, while respective  the right to privacy. 
• Recognizing that the problem requires global solutions and engaging in  cooperative multi-stakeholder dialogue, in order to develop common strategies. 

Questions: 

• What actions could you take to support this? 
• What challenges do you expect to be facing in this process? 
• What measures could be taken in order to overcome these obstacles? ➢ Who could help you in this process? What partnerships and synergies could be  developed to ensure effectiveness and sustainability?

Recent surveys indicate significant declines in awareness of Holocaust and history in  general, leading to a rise of distortion of these crimes, a phenomenon closely tied to  antisemitism. In order to address this, the following aspects need to be covered: 

• Consistent funding for training delivered by organizations with expertise on how  to recognize and respond to distortion 
• Collaboration between local and international experts to design training programs  for target audiences (including opinion leaders, media representatives, internet  companies, etc.) or and/or use existing materials from recognized organizations. 
• Encouraging participation in training of people whose work would benefit from  training programs focused on recognizing and responding to Holocaust distortion. – Investing in digital citizenship education to equip learners to interpret and  evaluate (dis)information in the digital age and advance media and information  literacy.  
• School textbooks and learning materials should be systematically reviewed to  ensure historical accuracy. Teachers should: 
  • be trained in pedagogies that build resilience against Holocaust denial and  distortion and 
  • receive guidance and resources on how to respond to critical incidents of  Holocaust denial and distortion in the classroom, on how to respond to  resistance to learning about the Holocaust, and how to effectively navigate  classroom discussions about hate speech and conspiracy theories 
• Existing programs that educate people about the Holocaust should promote  critical thinking and offer guidance to identify, reject and understand the harm  that can be caused by illegitimate equations between the Holocaust and other  historical or contemporary events. Educators should be trained on how to  meaningfully compare the Holocaust to other atrocity crimes whilst maintaining  historical accuracy and contextualizing both histories. 

Questions: 

• What actions could you take to support this? 
• What challenges do you expect to be facing in this process? 
• What measures could be taken in order to overcome these obstacles? ➢ Who could help you in this process? What partnerships and synergies could be  developed to ensure effectiveness and sustainability?

The work of institutions that teach and commemorate the Holocaust and its aftermath is  important for preventing and combating distortion. In this sense, access to documents,  photographs, artifacts, access to sites of memory and recorded testimonies of survivors  and other witnesses is crucial. However, some of these institutions face significant  challenges such as: being targeted by extremists and populist movements (or even by  governments) that challenge historical facts; functioning in societies and cultures that  tolerate distortion of history, juggle competing historical memories (e.g Soviet vs. Nazi  crimes), or celebrate war criminals as resistors; being subjected to politization of history;  having limited or no public financial support. Measures that can be taken to protect such  organizations are: 

• Providing sustainable financial support to ensure continuity of projects and  activities, while guarding independence from political pressure; 
• Ensuring that school curricula include visits to museums and sites of memory for  students of an appropriate age, with preparation beforehand and debriefing  afterward; 
• -Ensuring cooperation between institutions addressing the Holocaust, antisemitism  and racism and the educational authority; 
• Providing professional development opportunities for staff of Holocaust museums,  archives and educational organizations, civil society organizations, journalists and  other actors on how to effectively respond to Holocaust distortion; and to ensure  that exhibitions and guided tours do not unintentionally mischaracterize aspects  of this history; 
• Strengthening international cooperation with relevant institutions and networks  that address the Holocaust, antisemitism, and hate speech so that they can  support efforts to counter distortion through multi-stakeholder cooperation; 
• Ensuring that everyone has access to accurate and informed resources of the  history of the Holocaust. 

Questions: 

• What actions could you take to support this? 
• What challenges do you expect to be facing in this process? 
• ➢What measures could be taken in order to overcome these obstacles? ➢ Who could help you in this process? What partnerships and synergies could be  developed to ensure effectiveness and sustainability?

Holocaust distortion is a significant problem on social media. Several civil society  initiatives have focused on holding social media companies responsible for the content  that appears on their platforms, but more efforts should be taken at institutional levels  to: 

• Enhance cooperation between social media companies and institutions/experts on  Holocaust distortion for analyzing the existing data, in order to understand the  prevalence, spread and impact on Holocaust distortion on various platforms 
• Offer sustainable support for the development of social media accounts of  Holocaust-focused institutions and accessible educational resources that will be  resistant to abuse by distorters in the fast-moving world of social media 
• Addressing Holocaust distortion and denial online should be systematically and  holistically integrated into national action plans addressing antisemitism, hate  speech and/or disinformation, including through educational interventions in line  with the education recommendations. 
• Raise awareness about Holocaust distortion online and promote accurate  information about the Holocaust.  
• Call for greater transparency of internet companies and their moderation policies  as a means to enhance their accountability. 
• Facilitate cooperation between organizations that monitor online distortion,  disinformation and hate speech and institutions that face challenges from  Holocaust distorters, sharing of data and good practices in order to improve  understanding of the depth and source of the problem.  
• Allocate funds and resources to advance independent research on online trends  on online platforms, to develop robust response mechanisms and better mitigate  the harmful impact of Holocaust denial and distortion, as well as any other form of  hateful content. 
• Provide training, support and materials to Holocaust educators to help them  understand how Holocaust denial and distortion are communicated online, and  the types of communities in which they currently circulate.  
• Establish advisory councils on Holocaust distortion to support greater dialogue and  understanding on the threats it poses to democratic values, and to advise  governments on how better to address persisting problems of hate speech and  misinformation on online platforms. These bodies should monitor the  manifestations of Holocaust distortion online, and when necessary, take action on  or against harmful content that denies or distorts the Holocaust. 

Questions: 

• What actions could you take to support this? 
• What challenges do you expect to be facing in this process? 
• What measures could be taken in order to overcome these obstacles?
• Who could help you in this process? What partnerships and synergies could be  developed to ensure effectiveness and sustainability?

• What actions could you take to support this? 
• What obstacles do you expect to be facing in this process? 
• What measures could be taken in order to overcome these obstacles?
• Who could help you in this process? What partnerships and synergies could be  developed to ensure effectiveness and sustainability?