October 08, 2020 At the Extremes: The 2020 Election and American Extremism
In the weeks leading up to the 2020 presidential election, the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) Center on Extremism in conjunction with ADL’s Center for Technology and Society are releasing a series of news briefs on topics of concern regarding the role extremism plays in our current political environment.
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Conspiracy Theories and Anti-Asian Hostility on Twitter
Who/What: After President…
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October 07, 2020 “Like it or not it’s about to become a ‘significant time in American history’: Patriots vs. traitors…Start preparing now: food, ammo, fuel…ballots and/or bullets. God knows my heart, and my aim is true.”
Such a message would not be a surprising discovery on extremist platforms like Telegram or Gab, but we are increasingly seeing this violent and apocalyptic rhetoric on Facebook “Patriot” pages, populated largely by…
New York, October 6, 2020 … ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) CEO and National Director Jonathan A. Greenblatt issued the following statement regarding Facebook’s decision to ban QAnon content from its platform:
Facebook’s decision to ban QAnon from all its platforms is a much needed, if belated, step to purge dangerous conspiracy theories from the platform. QAnon is an extremist movement that fuels antisemitism and promotes misinformation and hate in an…
One-month snapshot reveals Rep. Nadler and Sen. Schumer disproportionally targeted by antisemitic tweets New York, October 6, 2020 … ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) today released a new study finding a high volume of antisemitic tropes and misinformation on Twitter directed at incumbent Jewish members of Congress who are running for re-election.
For the study, ADL’s Center for Technology and Society collected and analyzed all tweets across a single month that were…
August 31, 2020 Under the guise of anti-censorship and free speech, video-hosting service BitChute has become a hotbed for violent, conspiratorial and hate-filled video propaganda, and a recruiting ground for extremists.
BitChute founder Ray Vahey’s concept for the platform came from, in his words, “seeing the increased levels of censorship by the large social media platforms in the last couple of years. Bannings, demonetization, and tweaking algorithms to send…
August 14, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3
Israel struck an agreement with the United Arab Emirates to establish “full normalization of relations” even as it forgoes for now plans to annex occupied West Bank territory in order to focus on improving its ties with the rest of the Arab world. Facebook will start banning posts that contain blackface or that promote antisemitic conspiracy theories that Jewish people are running the world. A Georgia congressional candidate, who has a…
August 13, 2020 Extremists are constantly adapting and finding creative ways to reach new audiences – and new ways to evade content moderators. Their latest efforts are evident on TikTok, the Chinese social media app that allows users to create and share short videos. In less than four years, TikTok has racked up more than 800 million users, and its popularity is fast approaching that of social media giants like Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram Each TikTok video has the…
August 03, 2020 Facebook Groups play a key role on the Facebook platform. Groups are essentially discussion forums organized around an endless number of possible subjects, allowing individuals to pursue their interests and communicate around shared interests. Groups can be public (posts are visible to all Facebook users) or private (individuals must be approved by the group administrator to join and see the posts).
Despite public announcements of efforts to curb hateful speech and…
July 24, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3
The civil rights groups behind the month-long advertising ad pause of Facebook turned up public pressure with the release of an animated “Dear Mark” video. Almost three years after a conspiracy theory known as QAnon began spreading on dark corners of the internet, Twitter announced that it had removed thousands of accounts linked to the movement. And celebrating the life and legacy of civil rights leader and congressman John Lewis.
Read…
July 13, 2020 What do extremists do when a major social media site starts to deplatform them? While some migrate to less restrictive platforms, others adopt camouflage techniques so they can continue to operate on their platform of choice, hiding in plain sight through name changes and coded phrases.
The new anti-government extremist "boogaloo" movement took the latter approach when, on June 30, Facebook announced it had banned hundreds of groups and pages associated with…
June 26, 2020 On June 17th, we asked companies to act against hate and disinformation being spread by Facebook in our campaign Stop Hate for Profit. We asked advertisers to temporarily pause advertising on Facebook and Instagram in order to force Mark Zuckerberg to address the catastrophic effect that Facebook has had on our society.
Companies have responded in waves. Unilever, Verizon, Patagonia, Ben and Jerry’s, North Face, Eileen Fisher, Viber and the list goes on and…
Survey shows members of marginalized groups experience more hate New York,June 23, 2020… Twenty-eight percent of Americans experienced severe online hate and harassment this year, including sexual harassment, stalking, physical threats, swatting, doxing or sustained harassment, according to a new survey released today by ADL (the Anti-Defamation League).
Individuals who are part of a marginalized group also reported being less safe online this year than in the past: On the whole,…
June 22, 2020 Facebook has been claiming that it is effectively addressing hate on its platforms. ADL and others, however, have continued to expose egregious examples of online hate, misinformation and extremism across the company’s products, particularly on Facebook and Instagram. Whether or not these posts technically violate Facebook’s complicated guidelines around hate speech, as a result of the platform’s casual placement of ads, paid advertisements run a risk of being…
As Facebook has fueled the spread of hate online, a new campaign, #StopHateforProfit, organizes global corporations standing in solidarity against such hate New York, NY, June 17, 2020 … In response to Facebook’s repeated failure to meaningfully address the vast proliferation of hate on its platforms, six organizations today announced a new campaign, #StopHateforProfit, that asks large Facebook advertisers to show they will not support a company that puts profit over safety. ADL …
May 08, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3
Antisemitic signs and imagery are seen at anti-quarantine rallies across the country, including in Chicago, where a protester held up a sign with a Nazi slogan that appeared on the gates of Auschwitz. A new report outlines the failures of Steam to adequately address the prevalence of extremists and neo-Nazis on the gaming platform. And in California, a man was seen donning a Ku Klux Klan hood as he shopped for groceries.
Read on for more on these…
May 04, 2020 On March 24, 2020, a white supremacist interrupted a webinar about antisemitism hosted by a Massachusetts Jewish student group by pulling his shirt collar down to reveal a swastika tattoo on his chest. A day later, a similar incident occurred in California when someone disrupted an online class hosted by a JCC (Jewish Community Center); the perpetrator launched into a minutes-long, profanity-laced, antisemitic rant and removed his shirt to display a swastika tattoo on his chest…
April 03, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3
Internet trolls, including some white supremacists, are increasingly taking part in “Zoombombing” – hijacking meetings on the popular video communication app and posting inappropriate content, as well as white supremacist and antisemitic messages. An office for Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in Florida was vandalized over the weekend with swastikas. Antisemitic pastor and broadcaster Rick Wiles said that the COVID-19…
February 26, 2020 On February 26, 2020, authorities arrested five members of Atomwaffen Division, including former Texas state Atomwaffen leader John Cameron Denton. These are just the latest detentions targeting the neo-Nazi group, whose active membership has been decimated in the last two years by a steady stream of federal charges and arrests.
Denton is charged with conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, and interstate threats to injure, stemming from his alleged role…
January 16, 2020 In recent years, deadly white supremacist violence at houses of worship in Pittsburgh, Christchurch, and Poway demonstrated the clear line from violent hate speech and radicalization online to in-person violence. With perpetrators of horrific violence taking inspiration from online forums, leveraging the anonymity and connectivity of the internet, and developing sophisticated strategies to spread their messages, the stakes couldn’t be higher in tackling online extremism…
Washington, DC, January 15, 2020 … ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt called on leaders across the political spectrum to “stop politicizing anti-Semitism and weaponizing it for partisan gain.”
In testimony before the House Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism, Greenblatt urged Congress to put more pressure on social media companies to “shut down the neo-Nazis and anti-Semites on their platforms.” He renewed ADL…