Facebook censors Auschwitz museum photos of death camp victims for ‘promoting adult nudity and sexual activity’: Historians blast ‘hurtful and absurd’ crackdown

Facebook has been accused of ‘grossly insulting’ Holocaust survivors and ‘erasing history’ after deleting or ‘degrading’ over 20 posts commemorating the victims from the Auschwitz Museum’s social media page.

Outraged museum staff hit out at the social media giant on Friday night, saying the removal or censorship of photos and biographical information about those who died in the death camp was ‘harmful to survivors, descendants and all those committed to preserving it historical truth.’

In a statement, the museum said: ‘The posts that serve as tributes to individual victims of Auschwitz have been unfairly targeted by this platform’s content moderation system, citing absurd reasons such as “Adult nudity and sexual activity”, “Bullying and harassment”, ” “Hate speech” and “incitement to violence.”

A Meta spokesperson told MailOnline that Facebook had ‘erroneously sent notices to the Auschwitz Museum’ that the posts had been ‘degraded’, but said the posts had never actually been censored. ‘We sincerely apologize for the error.’

However, they did not address the claim by the museum that a picture – showing a group of Jewish orphans – had been ‘summarily removed without any opportunity to make use of it’. MailOnline has requested clarification.

Established in April 1940 to hold Polish prisoners following Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland, when it was liberated in January 1945, the Auschwitz death camp had grown into the largest killing machine in history.

Over a million people, mostly Jews, were executed, beaten, tortured, starved or gassed to death there, while countless others died of disease or malnutrition.

One of the posts that Facebook has deleted shows a Jewish Czech woman named Ida Mullerova.

The post, which says she was deported to Auschwitz on December 15, 1943 and ‘did not survive’, was deleted by Facebook for ‘going against our community standards of sexual solicitation’.

Another Polish prisoner Feliks Koprianiuk was cleared for ‘violence and incitement’.

Yet another shows the Jewish Norwegian woman Marie Sachnowitz, who was murdered in a gas chamber after arriving in December 1942. According to Facebook, the post violated its standards for ‘adult nudity and sexual activity.’

In another, the museum hung a memorial to Berek Antaba, a Polish Jew born in 1984 who was deported to Auschwitz in November 1942.

‘He didn’t survive’, says the notice along with his picture.

But a note against the post added by Facebook says: ‘We’ve moved one of your posts lower in the Feed’, with the explanatory note below the image saying: ‘Our technology found this post to be similar to others that go against our community standards for bullying and harassment.’

These were just three of several the museum said had been flagged by Facebook, which shared screenshots of the posts, photos and the website’s note.

The museum has now hit back, saying the idea that the posts violate Facebook’s community standards ‘is completely baffling.’

It said: ‘For years the Auschwitz memorial has shared similar content without issue, but suddenly 21 posts are being flagged at once.

‘Furthermore, we have also noticed that a post commemorating the tragic fate of Jewish children from an orphanage in Izieu from April 6 was summarily removed without any intervention.

‘This violent incident not only undermines the important work of our institution.

“Such an act is unacceptable and offensive to the memory of the Auschwitz victims, which we are trying to preserve.

‘The posts in question contain nothing more than respectful remembrance and historical documentation, showing the faces and biographical information of those who suffered and were murdered in a place that symbolizes one of the darkest chapters in human history.

‘We demand an immediate and thorough review of this matter, along with a transparent explanation of why these posts were flagged in the first place.’

In response to the museum’s statement on X (formerly Twitter), some users suggested that the posts had been targeted by other Facebook users by falsely reporting the posts as inappropriate in a deliberate attempt to censor them.

Judy Shapiro, CEO of Trust Web and Other Companies, suggested ‘one reason (posts were flagged) is if Facebook got a lot of complaints’ from other users.

‘I’ve known hate groups to do these campaigns to get content de-platformed by hitting the platform with a lot of complaints.

‘If a platform gets enough complaints – they remove the content. It is a war of numbers and unfortunately Jews have many, many haters.

“As a community, we are small,” she added.

MailOnline contacted Meta – Facebook’s parent company – for their response to the museum’s claim.

In response, a Meta spokesperson said: ‘We mistakenly sent notices to the Auschwitz Museum that several pieces of content posted by the museum had been downgraded.

“In fact, this content does not violate our policies and was never actually demoted. We sincerely apologize for the error.’

MailOnline has asked for clarification regarding the alleged removal of the image showing Jewish children from the orphanage in Izieu.