October 29, 2021 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 A third of Jewish college students say they have personally experienced antisemitism in the last year, according to a new survey conducted jointly by ADL and Hillel. ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt blasted Facebook following the publication of a series of articles revealing the company's struggles to stop hate speech, human trafficking and coordinated groups that sowed discord ahead of the January 6 insurrection. Community leaders are rallying behind the…

October 15, 2021 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 International and Jewish community leaders gathered in Malmö, Sweden this week for a conference to combat antisemitism and advance Holocaust remembrance. Twitter is struggling to curtail COVID-19 misinformation and hate speech originating from the fringe social network Gab and migrating to find massive audiences on the platform, according to a new report released by ADL. A review of recently revealed membership rolls for the far-right group Oath…

September 27, 2021 The recent blockbuster series of five articles from The Wall Street Journal exposing Facebook’s complicity in spreading toxic content underscores that it is far past time to recognize the harm caused by Facebook. Yet the company and other social media platforms continue to enjoy free rein despite playing outsized and destabilizing roles in determining what content is served up to billions of individuals worldwide. The “Facebook Files” were based on…

August 06, 2021 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 ADL and Hillel International announced they are working together to play a stronger role in fighting antisemitism on campus. Antisemitic content is proving to be a persistent problem across social media as major platforms fail to protect Jewish targets, according to a new report that gives Facebook and many others low grades. ADL criticized remarks from US Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) as a problematic “dog whistle” when she alleged…

July 29, 2021 THE WEEK’S BIG 3PayPal is partnering with ADL to investigate how extremist and hate movements in the U.S. take advantage of financial platforms to fund their criminal activities. A swastika was found carved into an elevator at the State Department, prompting President Biden to speak out. Unilever’s CEO wrote a letter to ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt in which they made clear the company will continue to do business in Israel despite its subsidiary Ben & Jerry’s…

June 30, 2021 This blog post is the second in a series of three articles that will explore the unique challenges audio content moderation poses for platforms creating audio-focused digital spaces. The first article in this series focused on the choices around recording audio for the purpose of content moderation in audio only digital social spaces. This article will discuss how platforms can choose to review audio for content moderation. The third article will cover cautionary tales from…

June 11, 2021 THE WEEK’S BIG 3  Antisemitic incidents more than doubled in May compared to last year following Mideast violence, according to new data from ADL. Online antisemitism grew significantly during the pandemic, with COVID-19 ushering in “a new wave of antisemitic conspiracy theories and hate in Europe,” the European Commission said in a report issued last week. Four members of the same family were killed in a pickup truck attack in London, Ontario in what…

May 24, 2021 As the tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas takes hold, Israelis – Jew and Arab - are facing the “day after” and the critical work of healing and repair that needs to take place within its own society and citizenry.  As thousands of Hamas rockets sent Israelis fleeing for shelter over the course of the eleven-day conflict, another wound has been opened within Israeli society: nights of violence, looting and horrifying expressions of hatred by Arab…

May 13, 2021 This blog post is the first in a series of three articles that will explore the unique challenges audio content moderation poses for platforms creating audio-focused digital spaces. This first article focuses on the choices around recording audio, and includes recommendations regarding Clubhouse’s current practices around recording. The second will discuss reviewing audio. The third will be on current approaches and models of audio content moderation that have been publicly…

May 07, 2021 By David Andrew Weinberg On the last Friday of Ramadan every year, the Government of Iran organizes what it calls Global Quds (i.e. Jerusalem) Day, which it uses as an opportunity to spread horrific propaganda calling for the destruction of the State of Israel, as well as messages of support for terrorist organizations and a deluge of antisemitic hate speech.  This year was no exception. On Friday, May 7, the main English-language Twitter account attributed to Iran…