STUDY: Anti-Semitic Content Posted On Social Media Every 83 Seconds
Image by Getty Images
By Sam Kestenbaum March 25, 2017
On average, anti-Semitic posts are uploaded to social media every 83 seconds, according to a new study by the World Jewish Congress — and the majority of anti-Semitic content is found on Twitter.
“We knew that anti-Semitism online was on the rise, but the numbers revealed in this report give us concrete data as to how alarming the situation really is,” said World Jewish Congress CEO and Executive Vice President Robert Singer in a Friday statement.
The research was carried out in collaboration with the Israeli monitoring firm Vigo Social Intelligence and involved analyzed millions of posts uploaded in 2016 in 20 languages on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, blogs and other forums, the Times of Israel reported.
More than 382,000 of the posts deemed anti-Semitic by the researchers. Posts critical of Israel or its policies were not included.
The study found that more than 60% of all anti-Semitic content online can be found on Twitter. Facebook only makes up 11%, Instagram 6% and YouTube 2%.
The WJC said they based their definition of what constitutes an anti-Semitic post on 2016 guidelines from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance: “anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
Email Sam Kestenbaum at kestenbaum@forward.com
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
