There are a number of vile antisemitic hashtags being used on Twitter right now, which include #HitlerWasRight, #HitlerDidNothingWrong, and #KillJews. We urge Twitter to take down all tweets that support violence and genocide.

We believe these tweets fall under "Violence and Threats" and are against Twitter's own Content Rules. If the powers that be at Twitter do not agree that hate speech falls within their current policy, we ask that "Hate Speech Against Protected Classes" be added to the list of content that falls outside of Twitter's "Content Boundaries." We do not believe hate speech is harmless, and we contend that leaving it up could lead to real offline consequences.

We also urge Twitter to suspend all the offending accounts who participated in these hashtag campaigns with the intent of promoting, and not criticizing, the message. They no longer deserve to have their voices heard in a public forum.

There is precedent for our request. On May 7, 2012, both Google and Facebook agreed to "voluntary efforts to curb hate content" in a pact with the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism. Take a look at Facebook and Google's YouTube and Blogger hate speech policies.



And finally, we hope this is just the beginning of Twitter's efforts to take action against hate speech in general on their platform. Just as Facebook and Google realize, it is possible to support free speech while condemning hate speech.

To see some samples of the offensive tweets, simply do a hashtag search or read this Storify.



To help spread the word, please feel free to use the following suggested tweets:

- #HateSpeech & #FreeSpeech are not the same. Sign the petition asking @twitter to erase hateful #HitlerwasRight posts: http://chn.ge/Ubcmqj



-#DidYouKnow that @Facebook & @Google combat #hatespeech, and tht @Twitter is the exception? Sign to change that! http://chn.ge/Ubcmqj

- #Hatespeech isn't harmless, even on #socialmedia. It can, and does, have offline impact. Say NO to #HitlerWasRight http://chn.ge/Ubcmqj

-Some tweets shld not be allowed: http://bit.ly/1mSiOgD Sign & don't let #hatespeech gain momentum: http://chn.ge/Ubcmqj

-Ask @twitter to take down hateful #HitlerwasRight posts: http://chn.ge/Ubcmqj