Campaign Launched to Remove Farrakhan’s Anti-Semitic YouTube Video

The Combat Anti-Semitism Movement (CAM) on Wednesday launched a campaign urging the public to call on YouTube to remove Louis Farrakhan’s Fourth of July address, which contained a series of incendiary anti-Semitic comments and tropes. Despite being in clear contravention of YouTube’s own policies on hate speech, Farrakhan’s offensive rant currently remains online.

During Farrakhan’s address, he argued that Jews are responsible for many of the world’s ills and referred to the head of a leading Jewish civil rights organization as “Satan.” He even suggested the Jewish community seeks to kill him, saying, “Jews tried to poison me, they hate me because I reveal their wickedness,” adding “If you [Jews] make that move, I can guarantee your destruction.”

Farrakhan’s speech, which was streamed live on YouTube, has been viewed by over almost 900,000 people. Rap artist Sean Combs (Puff Daddy) has also promoted it to his millions of Twitter followers.

CAM is now calling on YouTube to remove Farrakhan’s address, noting that the video clearly contravenes YouTube’s own policy, which pledges to remove content promoting hate speech. This is classified by YouTube as content that promotes or condones violence or incites hatred against individuals or groups based on core characteristics such as ethnicity, gender and sexual identity, and religion. Such a definition unequivocally includes Jewish people.

The CAM campaign, launched in the organization’s revamped website, calls on members of the public to urge YouTube to remove the video by taking two simple actions:

• Visit the video’s page and submit a report, accessed by clicking the three ellipses above the red subscribe button
• Contact YouTube’s Matt Halprin, vice president of global trust and safety, to express concerns and call for the video’s removal

A suggested letter to Halprin asks YouTube to enforce its own prohibition of content that incites hatred. The letter adds that Farrakhan “should not be given a platform on your website to promote intolerance.”

CAM has already sent a letter to YouTube’s Halprin, urging that Farrakhan’s address be removed. The letter also states that “CAM stands ready to support YouTube in clarifying and enforcing its standards when it comes to anti‐Semitism and to act as a resource going forward.” In this regard, it notes: “The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti‐Semitism, adopted by its 34 country membership, including the United States government, is the recommended standard to identify anti‐Semitism.”