During the month of May 2021, FOA’s volunteers monitored 692 antisemitic posts (including texts, videos, pictures, etc.) across four social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube). As of mid-June, 252 of these posts were removed by the social media outlets (about 36%). This is over three times the average annual removal rate of 2020 (about 12%).
The higher removal rate of reported content may be attributed to the type of content posted (more ‘hardcore’ antisemitism), but also to increased monitoring efforts of FOA volunteers.
Conclusions:
- Whereas antisemitic content appears on social media regularly, data originated in an automated monitoring tool points to a significant increase in the volume, popularity, and spread of antisemitic hashtags on Twitter during and after the Guardian of the Walls military operation, compared to the beginning of May. A similar trend is likely to exist across social media platforms.
- A higher volume of antisemitic content, manually monitored by FOA’s volunteers during Guardian of the Walls, was associated with a significantly higher removal rate of such content, relative to the annual removal rate of 2021 (36% vs. 12%).
- Active and continuous monitoring is key to combating antisemitism on social media. A critical mass of volunteers, manually reporting antisemitic content across social media is needed to effectively combat this phenomenon.
Source: FOA
