One of the FBI’s official Twitter handles recently caught the ire of the social media community for Tweeting a link to portions of an anti-Semitic text without any context. The official Twitter account – FBI Records Vault, shared a downloadable link to archived documents pertaining to ‘Protocols of Learned Elders of Zion,’ a fabricated anti-Semitic text describing a Jewish plan for world domination.
The Protocols text itself has long been exposed as a notorious forgery dating back to Russia in the early 1900s. While it was discovered to be a compilation of several plagiarized works, the hoax was still translated to multiple languages throughout the early 20th century and circulated internationally, including within the United States. Certain versions were even taught in German schools as factual after the Nazis came to power in 1933. The PDF file that was posted outlines inquiries the FBI had received from the 1940s through the 1970s and acknowledges the Bureau’s conclusions that the Protocols text is in fact anti-Semitic forgery. Unfortunately, all of this information is not present in the FBI Records Vault’s automated Tweet.
The official FBI Twitter handle that posted the Protocols PDF is responsible for handling all requests from the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA). The account followed up (after much backlash) by explaining that the FBI often receives intel from the public which is recorded in the Bureau’s permanent record, and is released by request of constituents under FOIA law. While some historical files collected may be considered offensive, all must be processed. The account also followed up the original Tweet with another, apologizing for the distress it may have caused, and explaining that the automated posting of FOIA materials is standard procedure. The replies were brutal, arguing that the Bureau should have provided context when posting such hateful rhetoric, but that’s not exactly fair. A quick look at the Tweet history of the FBI Records Vault handle shows that all of its requested materials are posted without any context. With that said, people do have a right for concern, but the genuine and articulate replies appear to have been eclipsed by the loud, angry misspellings of the easily irritable. While the original Tweet remained up for some time, it has now been deleted.
Who Is To Blame Here?
While the top Tweets and the subsequent replies to the FBI Twitter are full of shaming and calls to action from Senators, many people ostensibly have not taken a moment to gather their own context on this situation. The FBI did not simply and willingly Tweet out anti-Semitic materials to the masses with no context. What actually happened was a request to the FBI for previous queries pertaining to Elders of Zion had been made, and by law under the FOIA, an automated account released the materials. Unfortunately in this instance, those documents also held several pages of the actual ‘Protocols of Learned Elders of Zion’ text. As a result, a sample of anti-Semitic hate speech (forged or not) became readily available to anyone who may try to maliciously promote the archaic hoax as gospel. Contrary to attacking an automated Twitter page, that cause for concern is very real, as well as justifiable.
Regardless of how the materials were released, there is an argument that such anti-Semitic words (although historical files) could pose a threat to the safety of Jewish people today. That begs the question, whose responsibility is it to remove the PDF? Twitter has recently touted its ever-improving algorithms for limiting hate speech and for increasing suspensions and bans of accounts that violate its rules. However, what if it’s the FBI violating Twitter’s rules? To that note, is the FBI Records Vault account violating any rules by posting historical documents on the Bureau’s permanent record by law under the Freedom Of Information Act? It’s a bit of tricky situation to say the least. Nevertheless, citizens can’t exercise the right to any government controlled documents by request, then become irate when those released documents contain offensive material. Unfortunately the public will likely never know who requested the Protocols PDF that ignited this entire discord, but hopefully Twitter will quickly move on and let this despicable text fade back into obscurity as an ancient forged hoax.
