NYC Mayor Calls for ‘Assault’ on Social Media to Combat Antisemitism

Mayor Adams called for a “full frontal assault on social media” for “spewing hate” at a summit against antisemitism Monday at an Upper West Side house of worship. Mr. Adams told an audience at the Lincoln Square Synagogue that social media platforms have a “responsibility” to monitor hate on their websites, declaring that he believes tackling hate on social media is the “most important thing we can do right now.”The summit, hosted by the Orthodox Union, sought to address the rise of antisemitism in New York and across the country. It featured addresses by Mr. Adams, Governor Hochul, Senator Schumer, and the secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas, as well as the organization’s leadership.Antisemitic hate crimes at New York City rose 125 percent according to data comparing November 2021 and November 2022, according NYPD statistics.Mr. Adams attributed the rise of antisemitism partly to social media, where he said persons with “hateful thoughts” can gather and recruit others.“We have to organize around all the platforms and tell them they have the social and corporate responsibility to use artificial intelligence and algorithms to identify those with hateful speech… and immediately stop them from proliferating social media and poisoning the minds and radicalizing individuals,” Mr. Adams told the audience.The richest man in the world was not mentioned by name, but the concern about the possibility of hate speech comes as Elon Musk seeks to reform Twitter. The billionaire is attempting to correct what he sees as the company’s hostility toward and censorship of conservative political views, as documented in the “Twitter Files.” Mr. Musk has promised “amnesty” to previously suspended accounts, including President Trump’s and Marjorie Taylor Greene’s. A British advocacy group, the Center for Countering Digital Hate Speech, says hate speech on the network has risen since Mr. Musk’s takeover. Mr. Musk disputes the group’s claim.Mr. Musk describes his efforts as part of the “battle for the future of civilization.” He added that if “free speech is lost even in America, tyranny is all that lies ahead.” The mayor said his office would be collaborating with social media influencers, particularly those in the African American community, to combat hate “in the next few weeks.”In recent weeks, black nationalists have taken to the streets in support of a Brooklyn Nets player suspended for promoting antisemitic beliefs, Kyrie Irving. Protestors chanted Hebrew Israelite claims that they are the real Jews, and some went as far as to say Jews are “the seed of the devil.”Meanwhile, the governor announced the formation of an “early warning system” specifically dedicated to preventing prejudiced attacks through education, the Hate and Bias Prevention Unit in the state’s Office of Human Rights.“Let people know when you spot this, you see something your child is doing on social media that concerns you,” Ms. Hochul said, echoing the mayor’s concerns about social media. “We can be in the prevention business as well, by educating people as to what the signs are.”The director emeritus of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, says that the focus on social media is both “right and wrong.”Mr. Foxman, the co-author of Viral Hate: Containing Its Spread on the Internet, calls social media a “superhighway” for spreading antisemitism “in an anonymous way.” It’s the anonymity that most concerns him.He points to the success of anti-masking laws in the twentieth-century fight against the Klu Klux Klan, which stripped Klan members of their anonymity.“The anti-mask laws basically said the constitution gives you the right to be bigots, but if you want to be a bigot you need to take responsibility for it,” Mr. Foxman explained. “You can march and express your antisemitism or racism, but without a hood.”“By taking the hood off the Klan, it basically destroys the Klan because the bigots were not willing to show their aces,” Mr. Foxman said. “Then comes the internet and puts the hood back on the bigot.”“But the problem is still the bigots themselves — how do you deal with them?” Mr. Foxman said, suggesting that repealing bail reform and enforcing legal consequences for crimes are still the strongest deterrent for hate.In his address, the mayor also called for the city to “stop being a safe haven for those who participate in criminal behavior.”

NYC Mayor Calls for ‘Assault’ on Social Media to Combat Antisemitism

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