Social:Antisemitism on social media

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In the early 21st century antisemitism and new antisemitism was identified in Social media platforms with up to 69 percent of Jews in the US having encountered antisemitism online according to the 2022 report released by ‘The State of Antisemitism in America’. Jews have encountered antisemitism either as targets themselves or by being exposed to antisemitic content on their media page.

Antisemitism on social media manifests in various forms such as Emojis, GIFs, memes, comments, and reactions (like, dislike, heart etc.). Studies categorizes anti-Semitic discourse into different types: hate speech, calls for violence, dehumanization, conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial.

General

The WJC, in collaboration with Vigo social intelligence conducted an extensive study in 2016. The study concludes that a total of 382,000 anti-Semitic posts were monitored on social media throughout 2016, and as of February 2017, many of these posts had not been deleted. The data revealed that over 1,000 anti-Semitic posts were published daily across all social media platforms throughout that year, averaging 43 posts per hour or one post every 83 seconds.

Quint Czymmek, a German social scientist, cited In his paper a 2019 study that found that young European Jews (ages 16–34) are more prone to encountering antisemitic harassment or violence compared to their older counterparts. Additionally, these younger individuals identified the internet and social media as the primary domains where antisemitism poses the most significant challenge in the present day.

Researcher Sophie Schmalenberger revealed that expressions of antisemitism go beyond explicit, offensive language and images on social media. They also manifest in subtle, coded forms that can easily go unnoticed. According to Schmalenberger an example of this is observed on Facebook, where the German far-right party, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), has deliberately avoided referencing the Holocaust in its posts about the Second World War. Furthermore, the party employed antisemitic language and rhetoric, subtly normalizing antisemitism.

In Nazi Germany, the repeated and normalized presentation of such images had contributed to the dehumanization of Jews, which according to the researcher ultimately fostered an environment that accepted genocide.

According to research algorithms have played a significant role in amplifying antisemitism, as they are designed to prioritize content based on user engagement. This means that posts with higher engagement, including likes, dislikes, shares, and comments (including counter comments), are more prominently displayed to users. The issue arises because user reactions to posts also trigger rewarding dopamine responses. Consequently, the algorithmic emphasis on outrageous content, which tends to generate the most engagement, incentivizes users to contribute more hateful content. Two studies, provided exclusively to USA Today, found that Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) users to tropes and conspiracies. The 2023 result, researchers say, is provoking dangerous ideas as antisemitic incidents surge to historic levels.

Concerns have arisen among critics regarding the prevalence of antisemitism on social media, posing a significant issue for both the Jewish community and wider public discourse. While traditional methods of recording hate crimes, such as police crime records and the Crime Survey of England and Wales, have shown improvement, critics have said there remains a substantial underreporting of both online and offline antisemitic incidents. This discrepancy gives rise to a notable "dark figure" in the overall assessment of the problem.

A 2013 report recorded a congress hearing, stated that Hezbollah was using social media to spread its propaganda and gather new terrorist recruits. An average of 250 Hezbolla operative tweets a day and over 18,000 new followers were recorded that year.

Some examples of antisemitism reported on social media include: “Jews are rats”, “All Jews are greedy” and “I’m glad the holocaust happened”.

A study conducted by the Ruderman Family Foundation and the Network Contagion Research Institute, released in July 2023, revealed Israel as the most attacked country on social media. X (formerly Twitter) users mentioned Israel in connection with human rights violations 12 times more than China, 38 times more than Russia, 55 times more than Iran, and 111 times more than North Korea. Notably, during the Israeli-Hamas conflict in Gaza in May 2021, the use of anti-Israel tropes surged. This escalation was accompanied by the release of a February 2022 Amnesty International report labeling Israel as an apartheid state.

The researchers also observed an increase in anti-Semitic comments on Twitter, which correlated with real-world Jewish-targeted hate crime incidents. The highest point coincided with conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 and the 2021 assault on the Capitol in Washington by supporters of Donald Trump.

As of 2017, The United States had the highest instances of anti-Semitic content on social media (68%), followed by Germany (14%), the UK (4%), Canada (2%), and France (1.5%).

Michael Bossetta, a researcher at Sweden's Lund University, points out that antisemitic content represents a tiny fraction of the traffic on social media. In his chapter in the book, he says most studies find that antisemitic content total in less than 1% of the total number of posts worldwide (as of year 2022). In one major survey, it was 0.00015%.

Platforms

TikTok

TikTok, according to researchers and ratings, is very popular with-in tweens and teenagers, in addition to being widely used for news purposes, political platforms and following significant personages. Due to its widespread platform, "TikTok has become a magnet and a hotbed for violent and extremist content," the Israeli researchers Gabriel Weimann and Natalie Masri write in their chapter.

A study conducted between February 2020 to May 2021 by Weimann and Masri found a 41% increase in antisemitic posts, a 912% increase in antisemitic comments and a 1,375% increase in antisemitic usernames. For example, a song about Jewish people being killed in Auschwitz was accessed more than six million times worldwide.

According to the CCDH, TikTok, in particular, is falling in banning accounts that directly targets Jewish users. The study reveals that the platform only removes 5 percent of accounts engaged in activities such as sending direct messages promoting Holocaust denial.

TikTok has been called ‘the biggest antisemtic movement since the Nazis" by Sasha Baron Cohen. In 2023 Jewish American celebrities signed a letter to TikTok stating TikTok was not safe for Jewish users.

Instagram

Instagram a social network with one of the highest growth rates and highest infiltration rate among young adults and teenagers. As of 2021 there were an estimated 1.35 billion active users. Instagram has grown considerably during the late 2010s and early 2020s.

In 2016, 24,000 anti-Semitic posts were monitored on Instagram. While relatively lower compared to well-established social networks such as Facebook or X (formerly Twitter). Seventy-seven percent (18,000) of the anti-Semitic posts on Instagram involved symbols and photos, with an additional 20% (4700) involving expressions of hatred. Six hundred calls to hurt Jews were recorded on Instagram in 2016.

Researchers reported the hashtag #gasthejews on 2,950 posts and the hashtag #killthejews on 1,300 posts in Instagram. Other hashtags involving curses or expressions of hatred against Jews were included, on average, on anywhere from dozens to hundreds of posts per hashtag. Dozens of hashtags expressing admiration for Hitler were found. The hashtag #hitler was included on 970,000 posts, #heilhitler on 20,000 posts, and #hitlerwasright on 6,150 posts. The research found that usernames using such expressions were also found on Instagram, however the researchers did not find those users included users which published significant amount of content or had many followers. A significant number of posts using anti-Jewish expressions were used in relation to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, which were not included in the figures used in the study.

According to a 2021 report, there are "millions" of results for hashtags relating to antisemitic conspiracy theories on Instagram.

A report by the CST released in 2021 investigated antisemitism on Instagram. Following 27 trending antisemitic Hashtags for example #gasjews, #israhell, #zionistagenda etc. which indicated a significant use of antisemitic hashtags on the platform.

X (formerly Twitter)

According to the WJC study (2016), sixty-three percent of all online anti-Semitic discourse (242,000 posts) was recorded on X (formerly Twitter), and 9% (22,000 posts) were calls to actively hurt Jews. That is 660 anti-Semitic tweets and 60 calls to hurt Jews written every day, or 28 anti-Semitic tweets and 3 calls to hurt Jews per hour. In 2018 there was a 30% increase from 2016 levels accoridng to the WJC.

Common hashtags found on X (formerly Twitter) during the study were #holohaox and #hitlerwasright, which include thousands of posts each, alongside less popular but also worrisome hashtags such as #killthejews and #fuckthejews. Other content on X (formerly Twitter) included phrases with anti-Semitic references such as HoloHoax Exposed and Jewish World Order, while dozens of users included the word "Hitler" or swastikas in their names.

ADL examined the year between 2017 and 2018, determining that roughly 4.2 million anti-Semitic tweets were posted and reposted on X (formerly Twitter) during the examined year. The percentage of tweets pulled in by a query which tested positive for anti-Semitism ranged from a low 8.9% in week 33 (August 13–19) to a high of 34.2% in week 18 (April 30– May 6).

Between June 2022 to February 2023, analysts detected 325,739 antisemitic tweets in English, with the weekly average of antisemitic tweets increasing by 106% when comparing the period before.

Josephine Ballon, the head of legal at HateAid, said that to pursue a free speech platform we must ensure that X (formerly Twitter) is a safe space for users and free of fear of being attacked or receiving death threats or holocaust denial.

X (formerly Twitter) prohibited "behavior that targets individuals or groups with abuse. The company's code specifically mentions the Holocaust as an example.

A report published in June 2023 by the UK-based Centre for Countering Digital Hate showed that X (formerly Twitter) failed to act on 89% of hate tweets posted by X (formerly Twitter) Blue subscribers, and 100% of the accounts remained active. This includes tweets containing racist, homophobic, neo-Nazi, antisemitic or conspiracy content. Elon Musk also tweeted that X (formerly Twitter) prioritizes verified accounts, in other words paying subscribers.

According to an article published in march 2023, antisemitism on X (formerly Twitter) remains "higher than ever" with some worried about the platform descending into a "hellscape" filled with toxic, inflammatory content and misinformation.

X (formerly Twitter) suspended the account of Kanye West after he tweeting an image of the Star of David with a swastika inside. The rapper's account had been suspended before for antisemitic tweets. In addition, a research found that the removal of antisemitic content has increased since Elon Musk took over the network, with 12% of antisemitic tweets subsequently removed, compared to 6% before the takeover.

X (formerly Twitter) in 2016 was the leading platform for the dissemination of anti-Semitic discourse, hosting a significant 63 percent of such content in social media.

Another report analyzed anti-Semitic posts on different platforms, ranking X (previously Twitter) as the platform with the highest number, trailed by blogs, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and others. The study uses the IHRA definition to classify various manifestations of online anti-Semitism, highlighting expressions of hatred and the use of symbols as the most widespread categories.

YouTube

YouTube a social platform and content provider, which offers users the ability to both consume and upload videos. While specific data about regular users is not disclosed by YouTube, estimates suggest that around 80% of users are aged 18 to 49, and 50% of users outside this demographic, engage with the platform at least once a week, based on Brandwatch data. A survey uncovered 7,000 anti-Semitic posts on YouTube, spanning expressions of hatred (45%) and the use of anti-Semitic symbols (33%). In 2016, 500 calls for violence against Jews were identified on the platform. A notable incident involved a video uploaded in April 2016, featuring a dog watching footage of Nazis issuing orders and insulting Jews. Despite the video going viral with two million views and sparking widespread controversy, YouTube chose not to remove it. While many anti-Semitic posts did not gain traction on other social networks, other such as this particular video reach high levels of popularity.

Unlike some social networks, YouTube's content is more difficult in quantification according to the report, and no specific usernames or hashtags employing anti-Semitic language were identified. However, the report highlighted that the majority of the problematic videos originate from users with fabricated usernames. The reactions to these videos did not consistently include explicit anti-Semitic expressions. The content extended to songs promoting violence against Jews, attempts to justify Hitler's actions, admiration for the Nazi regime, and the use of various anti-Semitic symbols.

According to findings from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, there was a 4963% increase in antisemitic comments on YouTube videos related to the conflict in the days following 2023 Hamas' attack against Israel. YouTube recorded a total of 15,720 hateful comments against Jewish people in the week following the attack by Hamas, as revealed by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

According to the report, the attacks include comments featured dehumanizing language, drawing inappropriate comparisons between Israelis and Nazis. They also propagated conspiracy theories, ranging from the unfounded notion that Jewish individuals control the media, political structures, and financial institutions to the claim that the Hamas attack was a 'false flag' orchestrated by Israel. Additionally, explicit threats were made against Jewish figures and officials, accompanied by the sharing and dissemination of graphic images, as well as calls for violence targeting Jewish officials.

Facebook

With 3.05 billion users Facebook (December 2023) is one of the largest social media platforms. As of 2016, 11% of available online antisemitic discourse (41,000 posts) is conducted on Facebook. The majority of these posts involve symbols or photos. Four percent of the discourse (1,500 posts) are calls to violence against Jews.

Two possible explanations for the relatively low scope of anti-Semitic discourse in relation to the network's popularity: either the surfers chose not to publicly upload offensive content on Facebook or the network puts a great deal of effort into removing such content.

Unlike X (formerly Twitter), hashtags such as #killthejews or #Holohoax don't exist on Facebook. Problematic usernames also were not found. Discourse glorifying Hitler, however, was found, including groups such as Hitler Memes or pages of far-right organizations such as the Alt-Right. Almost all of the users who uploaded anti-Semitic content on Facebook did so using fabricated usernames, which is prohibited by Facebook's terms of service.

In a 2021 report, researchers collected 714 antisemitic posts between May and June which included Holocaust denial, and conspiracy theories with false claims about Jews "controlling" governments and banks, or orchestrating world events. The report concluded that Facebook acted on only 14 out of 129 posts reported to it (10.9%). The report stated that Facebook groups from which it sourced many of its sample posts, with titles such as "Exposing the new world order" and "Exposing Zionism", were still active. Facebook reacted to the allegations noting that they have increased their actions against hate speech 15 percent more since 2017.

According to sources, Facebook have increased its removal antisemitic content and its rate of removals are higher than other social media. According to a 2023 report, Facebook has removed 35% of all antisemitic content in 2022 reported to the platform by the FOA in comparison to 23% content removed in 2021.

Telegram

A report from Hope Not Hate, highlighted the prevalence of anti-Semitism within Telegram which has emerged as a primary refuge for individuals expelled from other social networks due to their extremist views. In 2021 Critics argued that Telegram's lax moderation policies have allowed numerous channels dedicated to anti-Semitic conspiracies and overtly violent content to thrive. One such channel, "Dismantling the Cabal," promoting the New World Order conspiracy theory since February 2021, has amassed over 90,000 followers. Another channel, managed by an anti-Semitic QAnon supporter known as GhostEzra, has a following of 333,000.

In addition to these concerning findings, Hope Not Hate discovered that a minimum of 120 Telegram groups and channels have shared the racist and anti-Semitic manifesto authored by the perpetrator of the Christchurch mosque attacks in New Zealand in March 2019, resulting in the deaths of 51 individuals. Despite this dissemination of harmful content, Telegram has taken no action against such materials according to Hope Not Hate.

Aftermath

In extensive interviews conducted by Czymmek, three young German Jewish adults disclosed that experiencing an antisemitic social media post left them with a profound sense of "loss of control," "unawareness of what would happen next," and despair over "the silence of other users." One of the study's participants decided to keep his Jewish identity on social media anonymous. "This anonymity protects me very much, it keeps the hate at bay."

In the online space, CEO of CCDH Imran Ahmed said, there are no limits, and people become radicalized without any boundaries. "The online spaces then have an effect on offline spaces because these people have worsened," Ahmed said. "The failure of these companies is a cost that's paid in lives."

Antisemitism following COVID-19

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, antisemitic conspiracy narratives began circulating on social media. A study comparing the first two months of 2020 with the same period in 2021 revealed a significant rise in antisemitic content and conspiracy theories released on French and German media platforms including Twitter, Telegram and Facebook. The study showed a seven-fold increase in French and a thirteen-fold increase in German counterparts. The study revealed the most often found conspiracy narratives during that period:

1. Jews created the corona virus: Claims that Jews manufactured the virus, either independently or with the assistance of organizations such as WHO, CIA, or the U.S. military. Motives often include the alleged targeting of white people or non-Jews.
2. Jews are spreading the corona virus: Suggests that Jews, whether responsible for creating the virus or not, are intentionally spreading it as a bioweapon to eliminate perceived enemies. This narrative is sometimes linked to past accusations of Jews spreading diseases like measles and the plague.
3. COVID-19 is fake, a conspiracy invented by Jews: Some posts express doubts about the reality of the virus, framing it as part of a Jewish conspiracy designed to mislead the public and instill fear. The conspiracy often implicates 'Jewish-owned media' as complicit in the hoax.
4. Jews are immune to COVID-19 or already vaccinated: Some posts claim that all Jews are immune to COVID-19 or started developing a vaccine before the virus was discovered. These ideas are used to support the notion that Jews are not affected by the virus, further connecting them to its creation and spread.
5. Jews are the only ones dying of COVID-19: Contrary to other narratives, some posts suggest that only Jews are dying from COVID-19. This notion is combined with Schadenfreude, questioning the idea of Jews being 'God's chosen people' and attributing their deaths to a weakened immune system from HIV.
6. Jews use the corona virus to make money: Accusations that Jews exploit the pandemic to profit, particularly through the pharmaceutical industry and reselling overpriced medical equipment. Jewish organizations like the freemasons are also implicated in exploiting the virus for financial gain.

A second study conducted by the IFFSE (institute for freedom of faith & security in Europe) investigated the role of social media in COVID related antisemitism and islamophobia. Antisemitic online narratives include accusations of Jewish control and power, blaming the Jews for perceived associations with pandemic control. Conspiracy theories about Jews and money accusing Jewish people of making profit out of the health crisis. Holocaust Inversion and “post-Shoah antisemitism” comparing several factors of Covid to the Nazi's, An example of antisemitic Nazi comparison in the formation of the "White Rose" group, and its equivalents in multiple European languages or a photo spreading on Instagram of the Yellow star badge with the word “vaccine” on it.

The findings of the study include that The COVID pandemic has triggered a surge in antisemitism and Islamophobia on social media, repackaging existing narratives to unjustly blame minority communities across Europe for the pandemic. According to research this trend continued also after lockdowns Social media companies, initially overwhelmed by the surge, have inadequately addressed the rise of online racism, failing to prevent the spread of antisemitism and Islamophobia on their platforms. COVID conspiracist movements have effectively reached new audiences, exposing more individuals to discriminatory ideologies. This online hate transcended the virtual realm according to Hannah, leading to offline targeting of Jewish and Muslim communities, particularly at anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine events that mobilized large online user bases. According to the study some COVID conspiracists have expressed a readiness to resort to violence. In certain European countries, particularly Germany, there is an increased perceived threat among Jews and Muslims, resulting in a reluctance to publicly express their religious identity due to prevalent online hate. Despite attempts by social media platforms to reduce exposure, antisemitic content persists prominently. Research shows that 84% of reported antisemitic content remains online. In a significant court case against Twitter, only about 20% of notified illegal content was removed within 3 to 5 days, mirroring findings in this research where antisemitic content from months ago remains online.

Antisemitism following Hamas 2023 attack on Israel

In the 17 days after the Hamas terror attack, the UK's Community Security Trust (CST), a charity monitoring antisemitism, recorded a significant increase of antisemitic incidents on social media including abusive language, harassment, and threats of violence.

Another report by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem reinforces the significant increase in antisemitism since the October 7 massacre. The content posted on social media, according to the report, includes admiration of Hitler and the Holocaust, advocating violence against Jewish individuals, and the promotion of genocidal slogans like "from the river to the sea." This upswing in online antisemitic content not only fuels the dissemination of hatred but also reinforces the worldwide normalization and legitimization of antisemitism.

Online antisemitism has surged in 2023, according to the Center for Tech and Society at the ADL, following the October 7 attack. The report states that Antisemitic posts increased dramatically on X (formally Twitter) beginning October 7, In contrast, antisemitism on Facebook remained relatively stable. It is likely that these differences were in part the result of content moderation.

According to recent findings from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, there was a 4963% increase in antisemitic comments on YouTube videos related to the conflict in the days following 2023 Hamas' attack.