CyberWell

CyberWell's Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor sat down with Steven Shalowitz on IsraelCast to discuss the state of online antisemitism and our work to stop it. They covered how social media companies are taking action (or not) on antisemitic content on their platforms and the role social media continues to play in denying and downplaying the October 7 attacks. Listen in: https://lnkd.in/efSpxAfv

We've observed an alarming escalation in the volume and nature of online Jew-hatred since October 7, including an 86% spike in the first three weeks immediately afterward. As our CEO Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor told Algemeiner , what previously looked more like stereotypes and tropes has morphed into overt hostility and calls to violence against Jews — and powerful social media algorithms are propelling this hate into mainstream discourse. More in our latest in Algemeiner ⤵️

In recent months, right-wing influencers like Candace Owens and Dan Bilzerian have taken to posting antisemitic antisemitic conspiracy theories, stoking Jew-hatred among their followers. What might have started as criticism of Israel goes further to generalize about Jews as a people, blaming them for all the evil of the world, and even denying the October 7 attacks.

Hateful ideas and violent rhetoric don't stay online — they often make the “jump” into the real world. That's why social media content policies like Meta's Dangerous Organizations and Individuals (DOI) policy prohibit terrorism and extremist violence on their platforms. When that content specifically targets Jews for violence, CyberWell is there as a trusted partner to provide the data and insights platforms need to understand and stop this hate.

“What we saw on October 7 was the most successful hijacking of our favorite apps by a terrorist group, and thus ensued a flooding of the digital space with anti-Jewish content.” When Hamas broke into Israel’s south to slaughter civilians and take hostages, they used social media to garner further attention, which was followed with a sharp increase in the amount and severity of online antisemitism. Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor, the Founder and Executive Director of CyberWell , works constantly to track and report this form of Jew hatred. Tune into the latest episode of IsraelCast to hear Montemayor discuss with host Steven Shalowitz her work, how social media was used to promote and deny the October 7 attacks, and the importance of reporting harmful content. Tune in at jnf.org/israelcast or wherever you get your podcasts. #PoweredByJNF #IsraelCast #Podcast #Israel #News #October7 #Zionism #SocialMedia #Hate

Online hate speech doesn't stay online. It reflects and reinforces what is happening in our real-world communities. And sometimes it even predicts the threat of real-world hate crimes, as we saw with recent disinformation campaigns targeting Haitian migrants. That's why it's so important that online hate speech like antisemitism is taken seriously and addressed proactively — because safe online spaces are better for all vulnerable groups.

Jew-hatred has evolved and taken on new forms in every era. Today, antisemites online are using the term "Zionist" to evade detection while spreading antisemitism, a trend Meta has responded to by recognizing the term "Zionist" as a proxy for "Jew" when it comes to anti-Jewish hate speech. CyberWell continues to collaborate with Meta and provide datasets for training purposes to enhance enforcement efforts of this important policy.

We extend our heartfelt wishes for a chag sameach this Sukkot. As we grapple with the reality of 100 hostages still held captive and so many lives lost in Israel on and since October 7, holidays like Sukkot challenge us to make room for the light of joy even as we work to dispel the darkness.

October 7 denial began to spread online just 24 hours after the horrific attacks. Since then, we've been working as a trusted partner with digital platforms to recognize October 7 denial as prohibited content under social media platforms' existing policies. Our efforts have already effected real change, as TikTok became the first platform to officially recognize the denial of sexual assault on October 7 as prohibited content.

Report: Online Antisemitism Removal Rates, Pre- and Post-October 7 We're proud to share that we've significantly improved October 7 denial removal rates by an average of 41.4% across platforms. While every platform made improvements in removing the antisemitic content we reported since October 7, work remains to be done to scale this impact across platforms. ➡️ Read more in the full report: https://lnkd.in/e32Hq_sY