ISRAEL: Facebook Penalizes Netanyahu For Hate Speech

The Guardian reports:

Facebook has suspended a chatbot on Benjamin Netanyahu’s official page after it breached hate speech policy by sending visitors a message warning of Arabs who “want to destroy us all”. Battling a tight election race in the run-up to the 17 September polls, the Israeli prime minister has sought to appeal to far-right religious and nationalist voters who fear the political influence of Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Facebook said on Thursday it had suspended the automated chat function on the page, which is run by Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party, for 24 hours. “After careful review of the Likud campaign’s bot activities, we found a violation of our hate speech policy,” Facebook said in a statement. “Should there be any additional violations, we will continue to take appropriate action.”