On Sunday, Meta deleted the Neokohn.hu Facebook page with 30,000 followers and blocked the page of Slomó Köves, the head rabbi of the United Hungarian Israelite Community (EMIH), without any substantial justification. According to the rabbi, it can already be stated that for years the Meta was not at all interested in the fact that clearly anti-Semitic and hateful comments appear during Talmud classes, while on the other hand, the page of one of Hungary's most influential religious leaders is restricted without justification.
Our newspaper's Facebook page became unavailable on Sunday morning after the social media giant deleted it - read the information on the Jewish news site Neokohn.hu The article reveals that the site has been restricted for a year and a half, and then
Meta deleted the Neokohn.hu Facebook page with 30,000 followers without any substantial justification.
For now, the editors do not know why they were banned, since the American company has since made their access to the page that provides the opportunity to view it inaccessible.
The last information we have is that the site goes against Meta's "community principles"
- reports Neokohn.hu.
As it turned out, Meta previously restricted access to Neokohn.hu's Facebook page on the grounds that it promoted the Islamic State terrorist organization as a conservative-liberal Jewish site. Both articles marked as "dangerous" by Meta at the time were based on MTI news widely shared in the Hungarian media.
Meta, which also operates the Facebook social media platform,
also blocked the Facebook page of one of Hungary's best-known rabbis, Slomo Köves, the head rabbi of the EMIH - Hungarian Jewish Association, where Rabbi Köves typically shared religious content without reason
reports about it .
The Facebook page of Rabbi Slomó Köves, similar to Neokohn, has also been unavailable since Sunday afternoon, after Meta informed the rabbi via e-mail that his Facebook page had been restricted.
No justification was given for the ban, so the question remains as to what reason led to the move to restrict freedom of speech in this way.
On his Facebook page, Rabbi Köves typically presents topics related to the Jewish religion and the Jewish community, but it is also his biggest platform for his daily Talmud student group, according to the Jewish news site.
It is not clear whether Jewish religious or communal topics, perhaps Talmud learning, or a clear stand in favor of Israel, which is under attack by the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, led to the blocking.
Cover photo: Slomó Köves, the leading rabbi of the United Hungarian Israelite Community (EMIH), gives a speech at the commemoration held on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Budapest ghetto at the memorial wall of the former ghetto in the VII. in Dohány Street in the district on January 17, 2020. Photo: MTI/Zoltán Balogh