New report slams social-media giants for ‘failing to act on antisemitism’
A new report by the Centre to Counter Digital Hate (CCDH) revealed that five major social-media companies failed to act upon 84 percent of antisemitic posts on their websites, despite promising to double down on antisemitism.
Illustrative: Social-media companies displayed on a smartphone. Credit: Twin Design/Shutterstock
Researchers from the non-governmental organization examined 714 racist anti-Jewish posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok that were published between May and June, reported NPR. The posts were viewed collectively 7.3 million times, and though they were flagged by the internal systems of the social-media companies, the five platforms did not act on the posts.
The report showed that the companies failed to take action on 89 percent of social-media posts that included antisemitic conspiracy theories about the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, the COVID-19 pandemic and so-called Jewish world domination. The platforms also did nothing about 80 percent of posts that mentioned Holocaust denial, and 70 percent of posts with images promoting neo-Nazism and white supremacy.
Facebook was the worse among all the companies by failing to act on 89 percent of antisemitic posts on its website. Meanwhile, it was discovered that TikTok has only banned 5 percent of accounts that directly target Jewish social-media users.
“The study of antisemitism has taught us a lot of things … if you allow it space to grow, it will metastasize. It is a phenomenally resilient cancer in our society,” CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed told NPR.
He claimed that the media platforms in question have been “unable or unwilling” to take action against antisemitic posts. The CCDH report proves that the companies are actively choosing not to moderate content on their websites.
“Tech companies are consciously giving a free pass to anti-Jewish hatred and the increasing threat to the Jewish community,” said the CCDH. “Social-media companies must do better. Platforms must support, hire and train moderators to remove this hate, and those platforms must be held accountable if they fail to remove this hate.”
JNS
