WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2022 / The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day with an article by Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice President Katrina Lantos Swett and MEMRI President Yigal Carmon calling for Congress to investigate the San Francisco-based Internet Archive's role in providing free access to content on Holocaust denial and online hate.

In the article, Lantos Swett and Carmon detail how the Internet Archive "serves as an easy-to-access platform for the content of white supremacists, antisemites, and Holocaust deniers." They write: "Searching the word 'Holocaust' on the Internet Archive, for example, yields results with titles like 'What Holocaust - 6 million my [expletive]'… and 'The Jewish Holocaust Is A Jewish HollowHoax' - some of these appearing on the very first page of results."

The authors continue: "Exactly one year ago, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) released a report detailing how the Internet Archive enables neo-Nazis and white supremacists to spread their messages of hate, incitement to violence and Holocaust denial by allowing users to post and then easily share such content. We hoped that exposing this rampant online hate, especially on a day of Holocaust remembrance, would lead to action. But, one year on, absolutely nothing has changed. The Internet Archive remains a powerful vehicle for spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories and the outlandish idea that the Holocaust never happened."

In marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Lantos Swett and Carmon conclude: "On this day, as the world remembers the tragedy of the Holocaust, members of Congress, and especially those representing the Internet Archive's home base in the Bay Area, must take up the important cause of holding this organization accountable for its content. This would certainly be a cause that would ignite both the fury and passion of the late Congressman Tom Lantos, were he still with us. Many tech companies likely recall the reverberations felt throughout Silicon Valley in 2007 when Congressman Lantos castigated Yahoo executives at a hearing over their role in the jailing of a Chinese journalist; he memorably accused them of being technological and financial giants but severely lacking in moral stature. We encourage the Bay Area Congressional delegation to follow Congressman Lantos' example and show this kind of moral leadership: Ensure that the Internet Archive no longer escapes the scrutiny and accountability that have been applied to other tech companies. In a world that seems to careen ever closer to the edge of reality, we cannot allow the spread of Holocaust denial and online hate to go unchecked."

ABOUT MEMRI LANTOS ARCHIVES ON ANTISEMITISM AND HOLOCAUST DENIAL

For over two decades, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has been monitoring and documenting antisemitism and Holocaust denial from the Arab and Muslim world, maintaining the largest archives in the world of this content as part of the MEMRI Tom Lantos Archives on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial. This past year, we have published numerous reports and videos of Holocaust denial, some of which are included below. To see more, visit the Lantos Project website.

The MEMRI Lantos Archives on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial documents antisemitic themes in Arabic, Farsi, Urdu-Pashtu, and Turkish newspaper reports, editorials, and other media sources, distributing all its research - reports, analysis, and videos - through the Lantos Project website and all its videos through the Lantos Project MEMRI TV page.

The project informs governments, policymakers, and law enforcement and intelligence agencies, as well as media, academia, and the general public, so that they may gain a greater understanding of these issues. Its projects researching antisemitism support legislation on Capitol Hill and throughout the West.

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ABOUT MEMRI

Exploring the Middle East and South Asia through their media, MEMRI bridges the language gap between the West and the Middle East and South Asia, providing timely translations of Arabic, Farsi, Urdu-Pashtu, Dari, Turkish, Russian, and Chinese media, as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends.

Founded in February 1998 to inform the debate over U.S. policy in the Middle East, MEMRI is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization. MEMRI's main office is located in Washington, DC, with branch offices in various world capitals. MEMRI research is translated into English, French, Polish, Japanese, Spanish, and Hebrew.

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SOURCE: Middle East Media Research Institute