Antisemitic French comedian Dieudonne banned by Facebook and Instagram
"Facebook and Instagram are 'better later than never', but now the Courts must enforce justice against the leading hatemonger of France.”
By SARAH CHEMLAFrench comedian Dieudonne M'bala M'bala, also known as Dieudonne (C) performs the "quenelle" gesture(photo credit: REUTERS)
Facebook said Monday it has permanently banned French comedian Dieudonne, a convicted antisemite, from both its main site – where he has at least 1.3 million followers – and from Instagram.Some of Dieudonne's posts used "dehumanizing terms against Jews," Facebook said."In line with our policy on dangerous individuals and organizations, we have permanently banned Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala from Facebook and Instagram," the company said in a statement, using his full name."Banning a person permanently from our services is a decision that we always weigh carefully, but individuals and organizations that attack others on the basis of what they are do not have a place on Facebook or Instagram," the social media giant added."Let there be no compromise with hatred!" said France's Equality Minister Elisabeth Moreno, who welcomed the measure and hoped for "more such decisions.""Reducing hatred on the Internet and social networks requires a strong commitment from digital players, associations and the State. We are progressing…" tweeted Frédéric Potier, interministerial delegate for the fight against racism.The French government has tried on several occasions to shut down the shows of Dieudonne, who attacks the "Zionist lobby" that he claims controls the world.The World Jewish Congress (WJC) welcomed Facebook’s decision to ban Dieudonne.WJC president Ronald S. Lauder said "Dieudonne has been using social media to do harm for far too long. Freedom of expression by no means gives anyone the right to incite hatred and antisemitism, online or anywhere else.""While WJC welcomed "Facebook’s actions," he added, "Dieudonne is just one notorious case among many others. Countless others continue to spread hate and antisemitism on social media platforms. WJC urges Facebook and other platforms to prioritize banning those who spew dangerous antisemitic rhetoric. Our safety and future is dependent upon social media companies taking this hate seriously.”Dieudonne M’bala M’bala, 54, known by his stage name Dieudonne, is a French comedian, actor and political activist who has been convicted for hate speech, advocating terrorism, and slander in Belgium and France.His YouTube channel, with 400,000 followers, was cut off for similar reasons by Google in June.The International League Against Racism and Antisemitism (LICRA) welcomed the ban as a "great victory," saying Dieudonne's posts "have done considerable and irreparable damage among young people."“The air is more breathable this morning on social networks.An antisemite has stopped broadcasting!" it added.The performer is infamous for his signature "quenelle" hand gesture that looks like an inverted Nazi salute which became a universal greeting between antisemites but which he insists is merely anti-establishment.Dr. Shimon Samuels, the Simon Wiesenthal Center's director for international relations, stated that Dieudonne has been monitored by the center for over 20 years now, "since his extreme-left anti-racist beginnings as stand-up comedian with his Jewish partner, Elie Semoun, to his running, in 2004, for European Parliament elections on the far-left Euro-Palestine ticket, to his heading the far-right Anti-Zionist Party in 2009, he failed in both... until his unique position today as a bridge between extreme-left and extreme-right and between Sunni and Shi’ah groups in Europe.“We commend Facebook and Instagram for their ‘better late than never’ action," Samuels added. "Now the Courts must enforce justice against the leading antisemitic hate propagandist of France”In fact, one opinion poll revealed that 16% of the French adult public (approximately 4 million citizens) 'regard Dieudonne positively.'”Dieudonne has been convicted in over 20 cases for defamation, hate speech and endorsing terrorism. Yet for his theater show of the “Sieg Heil - Isra-heil” outrage, the judge ruled that “this was not an attack against Jews in general, but against a type of person distinguished by their political views” Last year, Dieudonne was fined €9,000 ($10,600) for posting an antisemitic video, was given a two-year jail sentence and fined for tax fraud and money-laundering, under arrangements that allow him to perform community service instead.During the January 2015 attack on the Paris offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, he received a two-month suspended jail term after saying he sympathized with one of the jihadists involved by announcing with defiance, “Je suis Charlie Coulibally” ( “I am Charlie Coulibally”) – Amedy Coulibaly was the lead murderer in the kosher supermarket.In 2013, Dieudonne was recorded during a performance suggesting that it was a pity that a Jewish journalist was not sent to the gas chambers. Manuel Valls, then-French interior minister, declared that Dieudonne was “no longer a comedian” but was rather an “antisemite and a racist,” and that he would seek to ban all his public events as public safety risks.Dieudonne has also been known to associate with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran from 2005 to 2013 and an avid Holocaust denier. Ahmadinejad tweeted in February 2015: “Visiting an old friend, a great artist,” and posted photographs of himself and Dieudonne, arms around each other, smiling. The two also met in 2009 when he visited Iran, where they reportedly discussed their shared anti-Zionist views.
