CyberWell

NEW REPORT: The Evolution of Online Antisemitism, Pre- and Post-October 7 CyberWell’s monitoring technology flagged 36.6% more social media posts as highly likely to be antisemitic in the 11 months after October 7 compared to the same time period before. In our latest report, details on the top narratives driving the surge in anti-Jewish hate online, and how social media platforms are responding: https://lnkd.in/e32Hq_sY

"Since October 7, we have seen a sharp rise in antisemitic discourse," CyberWell founder and CEO, Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor, told Ynet. "We were the first organization to expose the campaign denying the events of October 7 that surfaced online the day after, with a clear call for the platforms to ban such content in accordance with their existing digital policies."

According to X's latest transparency report, moderators actioned only 2,361 accounts for posting hateful content in the first half of 2024 — a noticeably smaller number compared to 1 million actioned in 2021. While a variety of factors may affect these numbers, we know that looser enforcement and inconsistent accountability for online hate only emboldens it.

This Rosh HaShana is one of our most painful in recent memory: over 100 hostages are in captivity, Israeli civilians are under constant attack, IDF soldiers are in harm’s way, and the anniversary of the horrors of October 7 draws near. Yet amid our grief and worry, we step into a new year with a renewed spirit, and a prayer for peace and the safety of the Jewish people, especially the safe return of the hostages. As we move forward we do so with hope that the painful lessons of this year serve as a wakeup call to communities, governments, and tech companies all over the world, that safety and stability can be ruptured at the touch of a phone screen — and that we must act with urgency to close these major vulnerabilities on our most used apps and platforms to secure a better future for us all.

When social media platforms are clear on their content policies, they can better apply available technological resources needed to enforce those policies. That's why CyberWell is working hard to clarify for social media platforms what antisemitism looks like and how they can leverage existing content policies to address it consistently and at scale.

The FBI's 2023 hate crime stats are in, and Jewish people were once again the #2 targeted group overall and the #1 targeted religious group last year. When Jewish people tell you we're feeling less safe, we're not crying wolf — we're sounding the alarm on a very real problem.

Blaming Jewish people for tragic world events is a classic trope of antisemitism, one of the top tropes we see on social media. This assertion is not only hateful and baseless, it makes Jewish people less safe online and offline.

We cannot normalize the symbols of terror in our online spaces or real-world communities. As our data shows, the red triangle is not an innocent symbol for peace or justice — it is a strong indicator of content calling for violence and promoting terror. We call on social media platforms to recognize the intended meaning and contextual uses of this symbol and take action to stop its malicious spread.

CyberWell's founder and CEO, Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor, will be a featured speaker at this week's 9th Annual IAC National Summit, which brings together Israelis, Israeli-Americans, and Jewish Americans for insightful talks, workshops, community building, and more. Joined by Kira Radinsky, Dror Globerman and Morielle I. Lotan, Tal-Or will share CyberWell's latest data insights on the state of online antisemitism as they seek to answer the question, "Are social media platforms' algorithms antisemitic?"

I am honored to be sharing the stage with Kira Radinsky, Dror Globerman and Morielle I. Lotan and excited to contribute CyberWell latest data insights on the state of online antisemitism as we seek to answer the question, "Are social media platforms' algorithms antisemitic?" at the Israeli-American Council (IAC) National Summit in Washington, D.C. later this month! #generativeai presents enormous risks and equally inspiring opportunities to disrupt the state of hate in online spaces. I am confident that with more high-integrity data, less hate is possible.