Searches included “Join Proud Boys,” “QAnon plan to save the world,” “how to make napalm” New York, New York, February 1, 2021— ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) and Moonshot today launched a joint report on their efforts to track and counter US election-related violence and disinformation from September to December 2020. ‘From Shitposting to Sedition: Tracking and countering conspiracy theories, disinformation and violence around the 2020 US…
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In new report card, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok and Roblox earn a “C” while Facebook barely passes with a “D” New York, NY, January 27, 2021 … ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) today issued a report card grading each of the 10 major digital social platforms for their efforts to effectively address Holocaust denial content on their platforms.
The assessment, released as the world commemorates International Holocaust Remembrance Day, found that Twitch is the most…
January 15, 2021 We live more and more in digital spaces, so we have to work harder to distinguish protected online speech from unprotected online conduct. In the wake of the attack at the U.S. Capitol on January 6—an attack that was planned, mobilized and livestreamed online—this work has gained an even greater sense of urgency, especially when it comes to doxing.
Many people define doxing as posting someone’s personal information online. But doxing as a blanket…
January 15, 2021 A livestream video shot by a newly-elected West Virginia lawmaker shows a disturbing gap between what a mob of Trump supporters who attacked the Capitol thought about the events of January 6 and what the rest of the world actually saw.
Derrick Evans, a freshman member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, viewed fellow rioters swarming around him and forcing entry into the Capitol as a celebration. He was visibly giddy. But for horror-struck viewers, it was a violent…
January 13, 2021 The January 6 attack at our nation’s Capitol was deliberate and coordinated. Individuals who broke the law must be held accountable, but we cannot ignore that social media platforms, like Gab, may well bear a measure of criminal responsibility for the attack as well. To the extent Gab intentionally served as a forum for people to plan, coordinate, engage in or otherwise facilitate the criminal activity that took place on January 6, a Department of Justice investigation…
Platform’s CEO encouraged rioters to broadcast their actions New York, NY, January 13, 2021 … The ADL (Anti-Defamation League) today called on the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI to launch a criminal investigation into Gab and its CEO, Andrew Torba, to determine whether the social media platform intentionally aided or abetted individuals who carried out the January 6 attack on the nation’s Capitol. Gab continues to serve as a forum where white supremacists and…
December 17, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3
The website of a Jewish high school in suburban New York was hacked and defaced with swastikas and antisemitic slurs. A member of a Chabad in Lexington was severely injured when a driver shouting antisemitic slurs dragged and ran over him outside the Jewish Student Center near the University of Kentucky. And the Senate passed a bipartisan bill by unanimous consent upgrading the status of the State Department Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat…
Organizations release new framework on harms in gaming, best practices for addressing Seattle, WA, December 16, 2020 ... The Fair Play Alliance have teamed up with the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) Center for Technology and Society to release the Disruption and Harms in Online Gaming Framework, an unprecedented and comprehensive catalogue of the types, causes, and impacts of antisocial behavior and harassment in gaming. The launch is accompanied by the release of a new set of freely…
December 11, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3
The only Anne Frank memorial in the United States was vandalized Tuesday, a distressing display of hate that has prompted a police investigation. A report into last year's Christchurch mosque attack found that New Zealand security agencies were "almost exclusively" focused on the threat from Islamist terrorism, and police failed to enforce proper checks on firearm licenses. Facebook is embarking on a major overhaul of its algorithms that detect hate…
New York, NY, December 9, 2020 … ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) CEO Jonathan Greenblatt issued the following statement in response to today’s announcement that 48 states and the Federal Trade Commission filed antitrust lawsuits against Facebook:
Earlier this year, Stop Hate for Profit brought together over 1,200 businesses, 120 nonprofits, and global celebrities in a campaign that reached over a billion people. This massive public pressure effort forced Facebook to move…
New York, NY, December 9, 2020 … ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) today commented on the social media platform Twitch’s announcement of their updated Hateful Conduct and Harassment Policy. ADL’s Center on Technology and Society had consulted with the Twitch team as they were considering the update, which goes into effect on January 22 and addresses harassment, hateful conduct, and extremism.
David L. Sifry, VP of ADL’s Center for Technology and…
White supremacists, primarily on the West Coast, may use a two-handed hand sign consisting of one hand showing or flashing two fingers and the other hand showing or flashing three fingers. Together, they signify the number 23, a numeric symbol for W ("White"). This itself is often shorthand for the numeric symbol 23/16, which stands for "White Power." Additional Images:
One of the most popular white supremacist symbols is the numeric symbol 88, which stands for "Heil Hitler" (substituting letters for numbers, 88 means HH, i.e., "Heil Hitler"). It is thus not surprising that white supremacists occasionally attempt to display 88 as a hand sign. It is not a very common white supremacist hand sign, probably because it involves some dexterity and effort. Additional Images:
New York, NY, December 3, 2020 ... ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) CEO and National Director Jonathan A. Greenblatt issued the following statement regarding reports that Facebook is "overhauling" its algorithms that detect hate speech:
For years, ADL has advocated that Facebook pay specific attention to rampant hate and extremism on its platform, including antisemitism, racism, xenophobia and all forms of extremism. For too long, the persistent presence of bigotry and conspiracy…
The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT), a large and violent racist prison gang, uses a hand symbol consisting of a raised index finger and raised ring and little fingers (or the reverse), signifying the numbers 1 and 2. Substituting letters for numbers 1 and 2 stand for A and B, or Aryan Brotherhood. Sometimes ABT members may use a two-handed variation in which one hand "throws up" one digit and the other hand (belonging to the same or a different person) "throws up" two digits, again signifying…
The Aryan Circle is one of the largest white supremacist prison gangs in the United States. Its primary hand sign consists of holding up the thumb and the middle, ring, and little fingers of one hand, signifying the numbers 1 and 3 (which stand for AC). One can also hold up the little finger and the middle and index fingers, plus the thumb.
ALTERNATE NAMES: Bolts Up, Bolts to the SkyThe largest white supremacist prison gang in Tennessee is Aryan Nations (a different group than the neo-Nazi group of the same name). Aryan Nations gang members use a hand sign they sometimes refer to as "bolts up" or "bolts to the sky," consisting of forming the hand into a pistol shape and pointing it upwards or outwards. Additional Images:
ALTERNATE NAMES: Bolts Up, Bolts to the Sky
Read more about Aryan Nations (hand sign - Tennessee prison gang)
The European Kindred is a large white supremacist prison gang based primarily in Oregon. Gang members often use a two-handed hand sign in which three fingers of one hand are spread to look like an E and two fingers of another hand are spread to resemble a K.
The handsign of the Hammerskins, a racist skinhead group, consists of two crossed forearms emulating the "crossed hammers" of the Hammerskins logo.
Alternate Names: Nazi Salute, Sieg Heil Salute, Fascist Salute, Roman Salute The Nazi or Hitler salute debuted in Nazi Germany in the 1920s to pay homage to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. It consists of raising an outstretched right arm with the palm down. In Nazi Germany, it was often accompanied by chanting or shouting "Heil Hitler" or "Sieg Heil." Since World War II, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists have continued to use the salute, making it the most common white supremacist hand sign in…
Alternate Names: Nazi Salute, Sieg Heil Salute, Fascist Salute, Roman Salute
The Nazi or Hitler salute debuted in Nazi Germany in the 1920s to pay homage to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. It consists of raising an outstretched right arm with the palm down. In Nazi Germany, it was often accompanied by chanting or shouting "Heil Hitler" or "Sieg Heil." Since World War II, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists have continued to use the salute, making it the most common white supremacist hand sign in the world.
The Nazi salute was one of a number of similar salutes adopted by fascist parties and movements across Europe in the interwar period. These salutes were often claimed to be based on an ancient Roman salute, but this does not appear to have been the case. However, people making such salutes today sometimes assert, typically insincerely, they are “Roman” salutes rather than “Nazi” ones. White supremacists have also adopted the term “roman,” as in “throwing a roman,” for the Nazi salute. In recent years, they have also created a typographical or emoticon version of the salute (see O-Slash Hitler Salute and Double Romans).