Gov’t calls on social media companies to label antisemitic content

February 10th, 2021

Awake Goy

A government task-force has called on social media companies to label antisemitic content posted on their sites, train content monitors about antisemitism in order to combat online anti-Jewish hate speech, and adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism.

The task-force issued its policy recommendations in a comprehensive document commissioned by the Strategic Affairs Ministry and the Diaspora Affairs Ministry published on Wednesday.

Jewish organizations and agencies of the State of Israel have become increasingly concerned over antisemitic hate speech expressed on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others.

The policy outline document of the two ministries notes that social media companies’ policy on hate speech does not specifically address antisemitism or hate speech against other religions or national groups.

The document recommends that social media companies adopt the working definition of antisemitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance when determining if content is antisemitic.

It said that even if such content did not violate company hate speech rules the IHRA definition could still be used to label antisemitic content.

The document did acknowledge recent steps taken by Facebook and Twitter in banning and removing Holocaust denial content.

It also noted “the importance of striking the delicate balance between the preserving free speech and removing hate speech” and as such said that labeling antisemitic content would be a good solution and move the options beyond a binary decision of removing content or allowing it to remain.

The report noted that during the 2020 US election campaign and in its aftermath, both Twitter and Facebook adopted the use of labeling to counter false claims of election fraud, and that it could therefore serve as a model for dealing with antisemitism as well.

The document specifically pointed to a series of antisemitic tweets by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei as an instance where its labeling policy on hate speech or false content was inconsistent.

In a separate policy recommendation, the inter-ministerial document also called for social media companies to “be more transparent in the ways their algorithms slow virality of hate speech,” saying doing so would “clarify to users that such content will not become viral.”

The ministerial task force also recommended that social media companies provide training for content moderators to tackle antisemitic hate speech on their sites.

“An important element in proper enforcement of hate speech policy online is comprehensive training for moderators in hate speech, and, specifically, antisemitism, assisted by independent civil society organizations and experts who understand the nuances and subtleties of antisemitic discourse,” the report states.

The document says that “A recent conversation with Facebook officials revealed that there is currently no company employee or content moderator specializing specifically in antisemitism.”

It said that it is therefore not clear whether content moderators are familiar with, or make any use of, the IHRA working definition of antisemitism. Source

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