Facebook users who search for terms related to the Holocaust in German will in future be recommended to use a website with detailed information on the genocide of the Jews.

The world's largest online network and the World Jewish Congress (WJC) announced on Thursday that their collaboration will be expanded to include other languages.

The AboutHolocaust.org website was jointly developed by the WJC and the UN Organization for Education, Science, Culture and Communication (Unesco).

The site has been suggested for English-language searches on the Holocaust or its denial since the end of January.

Twelve languages ​​will be added over the next few weeks - including Arabic, French, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese and Farsi.

Facebook had long tolerated Holocaust denial - which is illegal in Germany - in other countries with reference to freedom of speech.

It was only banned last October after debates and criticism.

Founder and boss Mark Zuckerberg justified the rethinking back then with an increase in anti-Semitism.

Zuckerberg drew criticism three years ago when he said in an interview that he still does not want to ban Holocaust deniers from the platform in principle.

He himself was Jewish and found such statements deeply insulting, he told the technology blog "Recode" at the time.

“But in the end, I don't think our platform should take that down because I think there are things that different people are wrong about.

I don't think they are wrong on purpose. "

In the announcement on Thursday, WJC President Ronald Lauder paid tribute to Facebook's efforts to remove hate speech and support the spread of knowledge about the Holocaust.

"I encourage other social media platforms to follow suit in using their technology to spread the truth."