Same old story, but with new tech.
A new report released by the Anti Defamation League cites a disturbing increase in the number of anti-Semitic posts on Twitter. These posts tend to be aimed at Jewish politicians and Jewish billionaire Goerge Soros. The news comes as social media companies like Twitter and Facebook have been engaging in campaigns to block hate speech on their platforms.
The existence of anti-Semitic rhetoric, specifically directed against Jewish lawmakers, is not surprising. But the ADL says that it has found an “alarming” prevalence of such comment on Twitter. Its findings were released this week.
“On the face of it, this study provides a view into the online experience of a Jewish incumbent in the federal government heading into a presidential election season. Considered independently our findings are informative.”
–
Encouraging @DHSgov is now recognizing what ADL has said for years: white supremacy poses the greatest domestic terror threat to our country.
Now that it’s finally been acknowledged, it’s time for action on domestic violent extremism. Our recommendations: https://t.co/nBFr3gShyq https://t.co/MzWJxE16kx— ADL (@ADL) October 7, 2020
The ADL has shown that the old “dual loyalty” charge against American Jews over support for Israel is still very much alive, as well as the accusation that all Jews are really Communists.
The report cites a large number of tweets which questioned the loyalty, honesty, ideology, and faith of Jewish politicians. Many of these tweets also claimed that Jewish incumbents are Communists and Marxists in hiding, claimed dual loyalty of lawmakers, or questioned their Jewish faith if they were seen photographed next to Muslims.
There is also the case of the continued attacks on George Soros, which are tied to the anti-Semitic sanders against Jewish politicians. The ADL found that false accusations leveled against the Jewish billionaire investor constitutes an “astounding” 39 percent of all tweets targeting Jewish incumbents that were labeled Problematic in the sample set. These tweets include an old smear that Soros is funding and organizing the political careers of Jewish incumbents, the media, and BLM and Antifa protests in order to assert a Communist or “Jewish supremacy” agenda in the United States.
Who is it that doesn’t understand that the attacks on George Soros are rooted in Antisemitism?
Fifteen percent of tweets analyzed included references to conspiracy theories that Jews control key political, financial, and media systems and exploit them for their advantage to the detriment of others. These tweets allege that Jewish incumbents are part of the “Deep State” or claim the American political and financial systems are controlled by the Rothschild family to benefit the Jewish community.
–
BREAKING: Our Center for Technology & Society analyzed over 5.9K tweets directed at Jewish Members of Congress in a one-month span.
We found that around 10% of those tweets promoted an array of hateful antisemitic tropes. Read the full report here: https://t.co/07M0IuZoPL pic.twitter.com/eKC3TYBzLb
— ADL (@ADL) October 6, 2020
