CyberWell, an innovative tech nonprofit focused on monitoring and combatting the spread of antisemitism on social media, has released its annual report of antisemitic trends on social media for 2023. The group’s AI, which monitors for posts highly likely to fit within the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, flagged more than 150,000 posts made in English and Arabic. The group also observed an increase in moderation efforts by Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube, as the average removal rate rose from nearly 24 percent in 2022 to just over 32 percent in 2023.
“While many social media platforms have already increased their moderation efforts targeting antisemitism promulgated through their platforms, there remains a long way to go in the process to effectively stem the spread of hate and protect Jewish users,” said CyberWell Founder and Executive Director Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor.
CyberWell’s findings notably differentiated the specific messaging posted before and after Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7. The group detected an alarming narrative shift in Arabic toward more violent antisemitic rhetoric than usual. In the month before Oct. 7, more than 75 percent of verified antisemitic posts focused on or referenced stereotypes, tropes and conspiracies about Jews, while in the month following Hamas’s attack, more than 61 percent called for or justified violence against Jews. Despite most platforms having community standards and policies prohibiting the denial of violent events and calling victims liars, they have yet to apply this policy to the denial of the events of October 7, the largest violent atrocity against Jews since the Holocaust.
CyberWell uses AI technology to monitor for posts in English and Arabic that violate the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, which the organization’s analysts then report to social media platform moderators alongside the community standards and hate speech policies the post violates. When posts meet antisemitic guidelines that fall outside of established policies, CyberWell releases contextualized guidance to social media companies so that they can better moderate the content on their platforms.
The leading antisemitic tropes promoted through each platform in 2023 include:
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Facebook: Jews control the world or are dominating the world order
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Instagram: The Rothschild conspiracy theory
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TikTok: Jews are an enemy
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X: Jews are an enemy
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YouTube: Jews are the “Synagogue of Satan”
“Social media remains the key battleground for the spread of information and disinformation, and thus the war against antisemitism,” added Cohen Montemayor. “While we welcome some recent steps the platforms have taken to more effectively address hate on their platforms, there remain far too many policy gaps around the spread of online antisemitism, and we will continue to raise awareness to the moderators and platform policy teams to continue to enforce and improve policies so that social media does not create or foment the violent antisemite of tomorrow.”
CyberWell’s report can be found at: https://cyberwell.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/State-of-Online-Antisemitism-2023-CyberWell-LETTER.pdf
CyberWell is an international technology non-profit combatting online antisemitism by monitoring, reporting and holding social media platforms accountable for hate speech promulgated through their websites and apps. CyberWell’s AI technology monitors for posts, currently in English and Arabic, that are consistent with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, which the organization then reports to moderators alongside the platform-prescribed policies it violates. By understanding and leveraging how social media companies operate, CyberWell has achieved incredible success rates in removing Jew-hatred at scale, sparking policy guidance for content moderators and updating social media policy to account for all forms of Jew-hatred.
CyberWell indexes all verified posts in the first-ever open database of antisemitic social media posts – democratically cataloging it for transparency. Through partnerships, education, and real-time alerts, CyberWell is influencing social media platforms to take proactive steps against online Jew-hate. For more information, visit: https://cyberwell.org/.
