An anti-Semitic hashtag trending on Twitter in France has caused widespread outrage and at least one formal complaint.
The offending hashtag, "#UnBonJuif" translates to "A Good Jew" and has been used to disparage Jewish people with jokes that invoke Holocaust images, jokes and other negative stereotypes. It was the third most popular hashtag in France for part of last week, the Huffington Post reported.
Twitter, which traditionally takes a hands-off approach to content moderation, said it would be in touch with the Association of Jewish Students in France, who filed a complaint Tuesday (Oct. 16).
Similar offensive hashtags such as "#AGoodMuslim" have also made the rounds, HuffPo said.
In spite of strict laws in France that outlaw racism, no Frenchman has ever been prosecuted for tweeting racist remarks.
Twitter has had its hands full with controversial content in Western Europe this week. The micro-blogging service blocked Germans' access to the account of a neo-Nazi organization in Germany at the request of authorities there yesterday (Oct. 17).
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