Nearly four in every five
teenagers living in the State of Israel have encountered antisemitism on social
media and online, the highest level recorded in three years, according to a new
survey of Israeli Jewish teens released today by the Anti-Defamation League
(ADL).
The poll of 500 teenagers
between the ages of 15 and 18, conducted in Hebrew by the Israeli polling
company Geocartography, found that record numbers of Israeli youths are being
exposed to hatred online. An overwhelming majority – 84 percent — of
Israeli teens reports witnessing overtly antisemitic content online in 2015.
And among those, 16 percent said the content was personally directed at them.
In 2013, 69 percent of youths reported encounters with antisemitic content
online, and 13 percent said the content had been personally directed at them.
Most respondents said they
came across antisemitic content at least once a month and sometimes weekly or
even daily.
“As a highly developed and
technologically savvy society in a volatile neighborhood, it is perhaps not
surprising that Israeli youths more than ever before are being exposed to antisemitic
hate on social media,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “It serves
as a powerful reminder of the power of social networks and their ability to be
used, and abused by those who seek to poison the internet with hatred of Jews.”
The survey, commissioned by
ADL’s Israel Office, began by showing respondents a definition of antisemitism
and asked whether youths had encountered such anti-Jewish expression online,
either directed at them or in general. Among those Israeli teens who reported
encountering antisemitism, poll respondents indicated they witnessed it in
various forms:
– Ninety-four percent (94%) reported seeing antisemitic
content in posts on Facebook, talkbacks, and Twitter.
– Ninety-two percent (92%) indicated they had
seen antisemitic caricatures, pictures or symbols.
– Eighty-nine percent (89%) of respondents said
they had encountered antisemitic pages on social networks.
– Eighty-eight percent of respondents said that
they had seen antisemitic video clips or songs.
– Seventy-three percent of respondents said
they had run across antisemitic websites.
The survey also asked about
antisemitic content teens encountered on popular social networks. Among
those polled, youths indicated they had seen antisemitism on Facebook (76
percent); YouTube (47 percent); Instagram (39 percent); Twitter (31 percent)
and WhatsApp (18 percent). The poll did not ask about the specific nature of
the antisemitic content.
Nearly 40 percent of those
who encountered antisemitism said they had taken no action to report or counter
it directly, compared with 33 percent in 2013.
A similarly high number of
youths reported seeing anti-Israel content online. Among those polled, 82
percent said they had seen anti-Israel messages or content in posts, tweets and
pages on social networks. Most of the young people reported being exposed
to anti-Israel content at least once a month.
“Israeli youths, who spend
hours on the Internet and on social networks, are clearly more likely than most
to have a heightened awareness of antisemitic content,” said Carol Nuriel,
Acting Director of ADL’s Israel Office. “Unfortunately, we have reached a
saturation point for anti-Israel and antisemitic invective on social networks,
and young people in Israel are seeing it more and more in their daily
lives. Some clearly feel powerless to confront it. We need to equip
students and young people to have the tools to respond to antisemitism
appropriately and effectively.”
