Local newspaper removes posts on Jewish community after being overwhelmed by antisemitism
In an open letter to readers, the news editor at the Bury Times said the sheer volume and nature of responses forced his hand
A local newspaper in Greater Manchester has been forced to delete two Facebook posts about the Jewish community after both drew a deluge of antisemitic comments, the newspaper’s editor has said.
The Bury Times published reports last week on planning approval for a new mikvah – a ritual bath – in Prestwich and on a Holocaust education programme ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day. When the stories were shared on the paper’s Facebook page they attracted thousands of comments.
In an open letter to readers, Andrew Topping, news editor at the Times, said the sheer volume and nature of responses forced his hand. He wrote: “We have also been forced to delete both posts from our Facebook page due to the sheer scale of commenting on each post, and the thousands of comments to moderate, remove and take action on,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, at least 60 to 70 percent of those comments were antisemitic. Possibly even more.”
Topping said the comments included “outdated religious tropes” and outright Holocaust denial. He warned some members of the community felt “marginalised at a time of significant international tension”. Bury has one of the largest Jewish populations in the UK outside London.
“Simply, this is not acceptable, and it is not something we, here at the Bury Times, are willing to tolerate,” he added. The Times has already banned a handful of users from commenting and said it would not hesitate to bar others who continued to use the paper’s pages to spread hate.
Topping appealed to readers to rise above abusive conduct and urged people to “be better and kinder” in how they engage online. He warned that if the volume of abusive remarks continued the paper might be forced to turn off comments on certain stories altogether.
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