Report: Social Media Platforms Have Failed to Properly Address Antisemitism

A new report from the NGO Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) states that social media platforms haven’t adequately addressed antisemitism permeating their sites.

The report examined 714 antisemitic posts on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube from May 28-June 29 that generated 7.3 million impressions combined and found that these “platforms failed to act on 84% of reports of anti-Jewish hate.” Additionally, the social media giants failed “to act on 89% of antisemitic conspiracy theories” as well as 75% “of extremist anti-Jewish hate.” As an example, the report pointed to how Facebook labeled a post claiming that “the Holocaust of six million Jews is a hoax” as “false information” but did not remove it. Additionally, the report pointed to conspiracy theories regarding the Rothschild family and billionaire George Soros as well as conspiracy theories that Jews were behind the COVID-19 pandemic and the 9/11 terror attacks as examples of antisemitism that the social media giants failed to take action against.

The report also documented various antisemitic Facebook groups that had 37,530 members and were allowed to remain on the platform; such groups included “Expose the Talmud,” “Exposing Zionism’s Insidious Crimes” and “Rothschild Zionism,” among others. Twitter, Instagram and TikTok also didn’t crack down on antisemitic hashtags that went viral such as “#holohoax,” “#killthejews” and “#synagogueofsatan.” TikTok also only banned 5% of users that “racially [abused] Jewish users” and failed to act on 76% of antisemitic comments on TikTok, such as comments stating that the Holocaust “never happened.”

The report concluded with a call for these platforms to “hire, train and support moderators to remove hate,” stating that “while we welcome moves from Facebook to introduce clearer policies on anti-Jewish hatred, the fact that it performs worst of all platforms in our study at removing antisemitic content shows that any new policies will not be effective without hiring and training moderators who recognize hatred when they see it.” The report also called for legislation that allows for those who are victimized by antisemitic abuse on social media to be able to seek financial restitution from these platforms.

“This is not about algorithms or automation; our research shows that social media companies allow bigots to keep their accounts open and their hate to remain online, even when human moderators are notified,” CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed said in a statement. “No one has a fundamental right to have an account on a social media platform to bully Jews or to spread hatred that we know can end in serious offline harm.”

Spokespeople for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok all said in separate statements to The Guardian that they denounce antisemitism and have made progress in removing antisemitic posts from their platforms, but are continuing to improve their efforts in doing so.