Social media platforms failed to act on 84% of reported antisemitic content, with hateful posts receiving millions of views uninhibited, according to a new report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) organization.
Over a period of six weeks, CCDH found and reported 714 examples of what it called "clear, grotesque antisemitism" which violated platform policies on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. These posts were seen up to 7.3 million times by social media users.
The posts in questions included posts claiming the Rothschild family was involved in 9/11, Holocaust denial and claims that Jews were behind the coronavirus pandemic, among other examples of antisemitism.
Of the hundreds of posts reported, social media platforms only acted on 16%, with 7% of the posts removed, 8.8% of the relevant accounts removed and 0.1% of the posts labelled as false, but remaining on the platform.
YouTube had the highest rate of action, removing 21.2% of the videos reported. Facebook performed the poorest, removing just 10.1% of the reported posts and flagging one of the posts which claimed that the Holocaust is a hoax. The flagged post has received over 246,000 likes, shares and comments across Facebook.
Imran Ahmed, CEO of CCDH, stressed that the posts found and reported by the organization are just a fraction of the antisemitic content on major social media platforms.
Of the reported posts, 477 (67%) contained antisemitic conspiracy theories, with only 11.5% of the posts acted on by platforms. The conspiracy theories included tropes such as Jewish figures controlling finance, world events and political figures, a Jewish "world order" and conspiracy theories about the Rothschild family.
Specifically concerning posts claiming Jews were behind the coronavirus pandemic or creating "dangerous" vaccines, social media platforms only acted on 4% of the reported posts, according to the CCDH report.
Concerning neo-Nazi posts, platforms only acted on 29.3% of posts. Concerning posts about violence against Jews, platforms only acted on 30.7% of posts.
CCDH also reported 12 Facebook groups with 37,530 members altogether for spreading antisemitic content, but none of the groups have been removed as of yet.
The organization additionally reported hashtags which were used for antisemitic content. On Twitter, hashtags such as #holohoax, #fakejews, #jewishlies, #killthejews are still being used undisturbed as well.
On TikTok, CCDH reported the hashtags #rothschildfamily, #synagogueofsatan and #soros, with content using these hashtags receiving over 25 million views.
TikTok also failed to act against 76% of accounts which racially abused Jewish users in comments on their videos.
CCDH recommended that legislation regulating social media platforms be reformed to allow for those harmed by platforms' inaction to receive restitution and compensation from platforms in a court of law. The report also pointed to the German "NetzDG law" which imposes significant financial penalties for failure to remove harmful content as an effective measure.
The organization also recommended that platforms hire, train and support moderators to remove hateful content, as current policies and measures aren't doing enough.
CCDH also called for antisemitic accounts, groups and hashtags to be removed.
"As a result of their failure to enforce their own rules, social media platforms like Facebook have become safe places to spread racism and propaganda against Jews," said Ahmed. "The unchecked proliferation of antisemitic posts across these major platforms is a measure of the spread of white supremacy and hate across social media. To protect our communities and fundamental precepts of tolerance and democracy, legislators and platforms must act now."The CCDH report comes just weeks after Campaign Against Antisemitism reported that Twitter had cut off contact with them after they provided the company with data on inaction against antisemitic content. During a three-month period, Campaign Against Antisemitism reported 1,000 antisemitic tweets to Twitter, but about 60% of the tweets were deemed not to have breached Twitter's policies on hate, including tweets saying "Hitler was right" and "Jews control our government."A recent report by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) also found that social media platforms, including Discord, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Roblox, TikTok, Twitch, Twitter, and YouTube, failed to act against antisemitic content.