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Major Platforms’ Midterm Election Policies: Are They Enough?

Article
Image of a computer keyboard with a blue button that says "Vote."
Summary The United States midterm electoral campaigns are in full force as candidates prepare advertisements and voter outreach. Social media is an integral part of their campaigning as more than half of all Americans get news from a social media platform.  But false or misleading information (including misinformation, spread without malice or coordination, and disinformation, purposely created to manipulate or cause harm) runs rampant on platforms, subverting democracy and leading…
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Remarks by Jonathan Greenblatt to the Inter-Parliamentary Task Force to Combat Online Antisemitism

News
Good evening and thank you for being a part of this important gathering of the Inter-Parliamentary Task Force to Combat Online Antisemitism. I’m delighted to see so many friends in this room tonight. I want to particularly thank Task Force co-chairs U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Canadian Member of Parliament Anthony Housefather for organizing this critically important summit that challenges us to ask hard questions about the evolution and proliferation of online antisemitism…
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How A Texas Teen Turned Bias and Body-Shaming into Advocacy and Action

Article
Female holding a sing in front of her face that reads "Together We Rise"
Olivia Julianna (who uses only her first and middle name publicly to protect her privacy) has been an activist for several years, advocating voting rights and reproductive-health care. Like many in her generation, she found the political side of TikTok where young people post about important issues facing them. Olivia is involved with Gen-Z for Change, a nonprofit organization leveraging social media to promote civil discourse and political action on a variety of topics including…
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What Is Swatting?

Article
Woman opening door to an armed SWAT team
Swatting is the deliberate and malicious act of reporting a false crime or emergency to evoke an aggressive response (often a SWAT team) from a law enforcement agency to a target's residence or place of work to harass and intimidate them. Alarmingly, swatting appears to be on the rise. Kevin Kolbye, a former FBI agent with expertise in swatting, estimates incidents have jumped from 400 cases in 2011 to over 1,000 in 2019. Unfortunately, the actual number is unknown because the FBI does not…
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Twitter’s Failure to Enforce Its Policy Against Antisemitism

Article
An investigation from ADL’s Center for Technology and Society (CTS) found Twitter did not remove over 200 blatantly antisemitic tweets accusing Jewish people of pedophilia, invoking Holocaust denial, and sharing oft-repeated conspiracy theories. To test Twitter’s enforcement of its policies on antisemitism, CTS reported 225 strongly antisemitic tweets over nine weeks through ongoing communications with the platform. Of the reported tweets, Twitter only removed 11, or 5% of the…
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Repeat Liars: Falsehoods Around Buffalo Shooting and the 2020 Election

Article
Whether it is about a global pandemic, the 2020 presidential election, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, or the latest mass shooting, lies continue to thrive on social media platforms. According to a 2021 poll by the Pew Research Center, nearly half of Americans get their news from social media. While many people feel confident in their media literacy, YouGov found that only 4% of those surveyed could correctly distinguish false news stories from true ones. In order to assess platforms…
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Deplatform Tucker Carlson and the "Great Replacement" Theory

Article
In the wake of the horrific racist massacre in Buffalo, NY, Stop Hate for Profit is calling on mainstream social media platforms Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, Discord, and Reddit to immediately stop the spread of hateful white supremacist rhetoric that has incited acts of violence by permanently banning repeat perpetrators like Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham and others from their platforms and enforcing their own hate speech policies with regard to the Great Replacement theory and white supremacy. This article describes the forms that the Great Replacement Theory takes on these platforms and the platform policies they are violating.
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Agnostic About Extremism: Tech Companies' Roles in Spreading Dangerous Content from the Buffalo Shooting

Article
On May 14, 2022, an alleged extremist streamed video footage online as he murdered 10 people and injured three more inside a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, New York. The shooter livestreamed his rampage on the social media platform Twitch, which Amazon owns. Preceding the murders, the shooter allegedly plotted his attack on the chat platform Discord and spread white supremacist dogma on fringe websites such as 4chan and Kiwi Farms.  After the shooting, a video…
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Remarks by Jonathan Greenblatt to the ADL Virtual National Leadership Summit

News
May 01, 2022 Thank you for that kind introduction. I am so glad to welcome you – leaders from coast to coast committed to the fight against antisemitism and hate. I don’t need to tell you how important and pressing this work is. All of you know this from the work you do in your communities. You know when a synagogue or cemetery is desecrated. You know the families who have to comfort their children after a slur is hurled their way – online or in real life. You all…
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ADL Finds Facebook Posts Linking to Problematic Sites at Alarming Rates

Article
ADL Finds Facebook Posts Linking to Problematic Sites at Alarming Rates
April 11, 2022 Over a hundred million American adults read news on social media, but in the wake of the crisis in Ukraine, antisemitism, hate speech, and disinformation have spread widely on Facebook. ADL researchers found evidence of the continued presence of problematic posts on the platform, the most popular site for getting news, as well as the prevalence of external links directing users to alternative platforms and sites popular among extremists. Roughly 61% of these posts included links…
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ADL Launches Online Hate Index to Detect Antisemitism on Social Media Platforms

Press Release
Both Reddit and Twitter failed to remove over 70 percent of the antisemitic content ADL uncovered with first-ever independent artificial intelligence tool New York, NY, February 28, 2022 … The ADL (Anti-Defamation League) Center for Technology and Society today announced the launch of the first version of its Online Hate Index, a machine-learning system that detects hate targeting marginalized groups on online platforms. The Online Hate Index represents the first independent,…
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Prominent Boston Attorney and Litigator Michael Sheetz Appointed President of the ADL Foundation

Press Release
New York, NY, February 4, 2022 … Michael Sheetz, a seasoned trial lawyer and commercial litigator in Boston who also served as lead counsel for many civil rights groups in important litigation helping to enhance diversity in public schools, has been appointed President of the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) Foundation. A partner in the Boston office of Cooley LLP and a longtime ADL volunteer both at the local and national levels, Sheetz will lead the board that oversees the…
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Facing the Music: Spotify's Rules Sound Cloudy

Article
Facing the Music
February 02, 2022 Spotify is in hot water for its support of controversial podcaster Joe Rogan. In January 2022, a group of 270 medical professionals wrote an open letter to the company accusing Rogan of spreading misinformation about the Covid-19 pandemic, calling him “a menace to public health.” Soon after, legendary rocker Neil Young demanded that the company either remove his music or stop airing the podcast because it promotes false information about Covid-19 vaccines. The…
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After Hostage Crisis at Texas Synagogue, ADL Calls on Congress to Increase Nonprofit Security Funding and Immediately Confirm Antisemitism Envoy

Press Release
ADL urges Congress to increase nonprofit security funding to $360 million for FY 2022 New York, NY, January 16, 2022 … In the aftermath of a hostage crisis at a Texas synagogue that fortunately ended with all hostages being freed safely, ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) called on Congress to double funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which provides non-profit organizations, including Jewish schools and houses of worship, with…
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ADL Praises Texas Police, FBI for Ending Tense Hostage Situation at Colleyville Synagogue

Press Release
New York, NY, January 15, 2022 … ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) tonight praised Texas law enforcement and the FBI for their work in bringing to an end the tense hostage situation at Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville. Jonathan A. Greenblatt, CEO and National Director, issued the following statement: We are deeply grateful to Texas law enforcement and the FBI for their work in ending the tense hostage situation in Colleyville and for the safe return…
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Social Media Companies Frequently Fail to Flag White Supremacist Discussions of Jewish Power and White Genocide, ADL Finds

Press Release
New ADL Belfer Fellow analysis shows extremists can dodge basic social media filters by not using profanity New York, NY, January 6, 2022 … Social media content moderation efforts regularly fall short when it comes to detecting white supremacist speech, including discussions of conspiracy theories related to white genocide, Jewish power and malicious grievances toward Jews and people of color, according to a new report from ADL (the Anti-Defamation League). “This important…
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Remarks by ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on "Holding Big Tech Accountable"

News
December 09, 2021 House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce "Holding Big Tech Accountable: Legislation to Build a Safer Internet" Oral Remarks by Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO (Full written: View PDF here) December 9, 2021 | Washington, D.C.     Thank you Madam Chair Schakowsky, Ranking Member Bilirakis, and members of the subcommittee, good morning. It is a privilege and an honor to appear before…
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One Year After Ban, Holocaust Denial Remains on Facebook

Article
Holocaust denial on Facebook
December 01, 2021 UPDATE: As of December 9, 2021, Facebook has removed all nine posts reported on the platform in conjunction with our research.  October 2021 marked one year since Facebook banned Holocaust denial from its platform and officially classified Holocaust denial as hate speech instead of misinformation. On the first anniversary of this policy’s enactment on Facebook properties, analysts in ADL’s Center on Extremism (COE) sought to determine whether the…
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Holocaust Denial Persists on Facebook, One Year After Policy Change Banning Denial Content

Press Release
New York, NY, December 1, 2021 … In the year since Facebook banned Holocaust denial from its platform and finally classified it as hate speech instead of “misinformation,” a new ADL (Anti-Defamation League) analysis of the platform has found “cracks in enforcement” that have allowed Holocaust denial posts to still be accessible to many users. In the year since the October 2020 ban on Holocaust denial, Facebook has removed groups dedicated to Holocaust denial…
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