New Software Monitors Anti-Semitic Posts

A new system was introduced by the Israeli Diaspora Affairs Ministry on Thursday that monitors anti-Semitic posts on social media and alerts companies that they need to be removed.

The Anti-Semitism Cyber Monitoring System (ACMS) is capable of detecting posts and tweets that reek of anti-Semitism and is able to determine the area in which they originated from and the reach of that post or tweet. During a one-month trial run, the ACMS discovered around 10,000 anti-Semitic posts and tweets per day; the cities with the most anti-Semitic posts and tweets were Santiago (Chile), Dnipro (Ukraine) and Bucharest (Romania).

The Diaspora Affairs Ministry is also utilizing a command center to analyze the information collected by the software and using the data to inform Internet companies about the anti-Semitic posts and tweets and the need for them to be taken down.

“From today every anti-Semite online should know he is exposed, the hatred he spreads is being watched and he will be held responsible,” Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett told reporters at a Thursday press conference. “It’s time to set a mirror in front of our enemies and expose the ugly face of the modern anti-Semite, he who tweets Swastikas instead of branding them in the street. From now on we will know who the leading anti-Semites are and they will be dealt with.”

Bennett mentioned that the ACMS wouldn’t necessarily deal with posts or tweets that are anti-Israel, as there is a difference between criticisms of the Jewish state and anti-Semitism.

“This system does not deal with critique of Israel, we are talking about antisemitism and sometimes that is under a cloak of anti-Israeliness,” said Bennett.

The ACMS will initially monitor anti-Semitic posts in English, Arabic, German and French on Facebook and Twitter, but will eventually have a higher reach across other platforms.

“Anti-Semitism hasn’t vanished,” said Bennett, “it has shifted shape and moved from the street to the web. Especially during the week we commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we must turn the spotlight to the places from which anti-Semitism stems and spreads, as part of the mutual responsibility Jews have for one another.”

The ACMS is the latest example of Jews and Israelis fighting back against vile social media posts and tweets. Earlier in January, the Journal reported on the Act.IL app that alerts users of anti-Israel posts and provides them with an opportunity to counter such posts.