“Look, as abhorrent as some of this content can be, I do think that it gets down to this principle of giving people a voice,” Mark Zuckerberg said. | Gerard Julien/AFP/Getty Images Zuckerberg defends allowing InfoWars, Holocaust deniers on Facebook

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended the social media platform’s decision not to kick off conspiracy theory-peddling websites like the far-right InfoWars, saying in an interview released Wednesday that doing so would violate Facebook’s commitment to being an open platform.

The company has faced mounting criticism over the past week for allowing the Alex Jones-led site, a known purveyor of misinformation about issues like the Sandy Hook massacre and Pizzagate, to remain on the platform. Democrats grilled Facebook policy official Monika Bickert over the choice at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday.


Zuckerberg responded to the criticisms during an interview with Recode.

“Look, as abhorrent as some of this content can be, I do think that it gets down to this principle of giving people a voice,” the Facebook CEO said.

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Zuckerberg said that instead of banning websites outright, the company removes individual posts that violate Facebook’s terms of service. Posts promoting violence are particularly likely to be taken down, he added.

Zuckerberg, who is Jewish, said even Holocaust deniers have a place on the platform as long as they genuinely believe the content they share.

“I find that deeply offensive,” he said. “But at the end of the day, I don’t believe that our platform should take that down because I think there are things that different people get wrong. I don’t think that they’re intentionally getting it wrong.”

The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish non-governmental organization that combats anti-Semitism, took issue with the remarks, calling on Facebook to remove such rhetoric from the platform.

“Holocaust denial is a willful, deliberate and longstanding deception tactic by anti-Semites that is incontrovertibly hateful, hurtful, and threatening to Jews," ADL CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. "Facebook has a moral and ethical obligation not to allow its dissemination."