What is negationism?

Historical negationism refers to the practice of manipulating historical records to deny that certain events happened, or distort the narrative around them.

The term is relatively recent, having been coined by French historian Henry Rousso in 1987, relating to Holocaust Denial. Six million Jews were murdered by the Nazi regime during the Second World War.

Holocaust denial is certainly one of the most well-known and common examples of negationism. But similar distortion strategies have been seen relating to other genocides and war crimes across the world.

Negationism is a crime in some countries like Germany, while elsewhere the approach is more cautious, due to questions about freedom of speech. Other laws can apply to negationist statements, if they are also of a hateful or discriminatory nature.

So what exactly does negationism look like? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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