The Online Hate Prevention Institute released a major new report into antisemitism on Facebook to coincide with the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21st 2013.
The new report tracks the response to a number of antisemitic items on Facebook. Some of the items were included in OHPI’s previous report in 2012 into Aboriginal Memes and Online Hate, others are new in 2013. The report shows how some items are removed by Facebook while others remain online, some for more than 6 months. The report examines what Facebook removes and what sort of content Facebook does not consider hate speech and refuses to remove. The findings show that Facebook does not really understand antisemitism and has trouble recognizing certain very well known types of antisemitism.
The report shows Facebook has difficulty identifying racism directly based on Nazi propaganda; consistently refusing to recognize as hate speech pages promoting the famous antisemitic forgery used to inspire mass killings, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion; and failing to take action on new antisemitism which uses Holocaust inversion to paint Israel and Jews as Nazis. These blind spots can be added to the known difficulty Facebook has in recognizing Holocaust denial as Hate Speech.
This report is a major piece of work of similar importance to past work by OHPI’s Director, Dr Andre Oboler, including his work on Antisemitism 2.0, Replacement Geography on Google Earth, and Holocaust denial on Facebook. It uses a similar approach to OHPI’s major 2012 report into Aboriginal Memes and online hate (which focused on online hate against Indigenous Australians).
Additional Information:
– The advanced Press Release announcing the report will be released
– The press release after the report was launched
– Launch notes for The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
– The report’s blurb
– Public endorsements for this report
– Our request to buy advertising to promote the post announcing the launch wasrejected by Facebook.
