On Friday, on Global Grind, I read an article about the President of Iran’s denial of the Holocaust. This isn’t the first time that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has denied the Holocaust and I am sure it won’t be the last. However, more disheartening to me were the comments that some of the Global Grind readers left, which included some deep hatred towards Muslims and Jews. We know that the President of Iran will continue with his hatred, but to hear it from our own community really struck a nerve.

After reading the article, I thought a lot about a meeting I had a few weeks ago with Brian Cuban, who happens to be the brother and lawyer of Mark Cuban (owner of the Dallas Mavericks). Brian came to my office to share with me a deep concern he has with the growing movement of hate groups that are popping up on online social networks.

When he began to investigate how groups who seemed to have no other purpose than to spew hatred were allowed to exist on Facebook and Myspace and post videos on YouTube, with emphasis on Facebook in particular, it caused him concern, as it should all of us.

The executives of Facebook companies told him that as long as these groups weren’t targeting a group of people or engaging in  “direct hatred” they were free to exist.  This is despite the fact that the advertised rules of Facebook prohibit the posting of any “hateful content without limitation.”

So, for instance, on Facebook you can apparently create a group called “Death To Islam” or “F*ck Islam,” but not “F*ck Muslims.” Or you can say  “F*ck Judaism,” but you can’t say “F*ck Jews.”  Call me crazy but all of the above sound hateful to me.   I fail to see the distinctions, but Facebook companies seem to think there is one. They have created their own private rules that somehow justify the existence of these groups on their sites.

I will always support “freedom of speech,” as long as it is not causing harm to others.  For something to be harmful however does not always have to involve a beating with a baseball bat.  The most insidious, widespread types of hatred are often much more subtle but no less dangerous.  As such, I think it is important to make sure that we do not allow hatred and violence to openly be spewed without any sort of consequences. As business leaders, we still have to be able to sleep at night, regardless of how much money we might be making.

Some of the people who own and operate these companies are dear friends, so I ask them humbly to re-think their policies. I urge the executives of social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Myspace to consider that their platforms are powerful educators and motivators of our young people.  As such, there is a social responsibility to not engage in semantic distinctions of hatred on their sites that have no practical application in the real world.  These distinctions might seem minor in practice, but the effect they can have in the spreading of societal intolerance of others based on different religious beliefs is real. 

I am concerned that the words of Ahmadinejad will continue to influence young people in the Middle East and around the world. But I fear that online hate groups will have much greater influence than one isolated leader. If we do not let these social networks know that these groups are not welcome within our communities, then we are just as guilty. When the KKK marches today, it takes brave men and women to stand up to them and tell them to get out of their communities. We can do the same online.

It is a very important week for Muslims and Jews around the world.  The Muslims have just ended the holy month of Ramadan.  And the Jews have just celebrated their New Year and in a few days will observe their holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur.  It is a perfect time to come together and raise our voices of dissent against the existence of online hate groups. If we succeed, it will not only create a step forward towards a greater collective consciousness, but just as important, it will allow us all to sleep a little better at night.

-Russell