(Jewish Group) After Facebook Papers, ADL CEO condemns Facebook for hate speech and violence

[Behind the Aegis]

(NOTE: I am also including a link to the ADL's Campus anti-Semitism report at the bottom of this article. IF someone feels taht should be its own thread, I won't be offended at its reposting.)

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt has condemned Facebook for allowing the incitement of violence on the platform, making the ADL one of the many organizations to speak out in response to a series of reports illuminating systemic policy failures at the social media company.

On Monday, after consortium of news organizations began publishing articles based on leaked internal documents taken by whistleblower Frances Haugen before she left the company, Greenblatt told CNN that the ADL is focused on encouraging advertisers to boycott Facebook. That action, he said, is an important response to increasing evidence of the company’s knowledge of ways in which its platform is used to incite violence and spread hate, including antisemitism.

“Companies can vote with their wallets and decide where they want to build their brands, redirecting resources away from Facebook,” Greenblatt said. “Mark Zuckerberg would have you believe [Facebook] was doing all it could. Now we know the truth: He was aware and did nothing about it.”

The documents provided by Haugen, known as the Facebook Papers, shed light on issues ranging from the company’s role in the January 6 insurrection to its challenges moderating non-English content, resulting in the proliferation of terrorist content and hate speech in countries like Afghanistan and Myanmar, as well as, in other countries, the suppression of ordinary speech.

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Related:

The ADL-Hillel Campus Antisemitism Survey: 2021

Antisemitism has been a problem on college and university campuses for decades. But while the climate for Jewish students had been improving for many years, we are seeing an alarming new uptick in the number of reported antisemitic incidents across the country. Swastikas, Nazi symbols and other antisemitic graffiti have been reported on numerous campuses, and antisemitic tropes hurled at Jewish students have made headlines. Most notably, white supremacists marched through the campus of the University of Virginia in 2017 shouting “Jews will not replace us.”

In the aftermath of increased conflict between Israel and Hamas in May 2021, students at college campuses across the United States experienced an even sharper increase in antisemitic activity, including many incidents not directly connected to Israel. Antisemitic incidents peaked during the 2020-2021 academic year, reaching an all-time high of 244 incidents, even though many campuses were physically closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From past research and conversations with students, we know that antisemitic activity on campus makes some Jewish students feel unwelcome or unsupported by their campus community. According to one recent survey, Jewish students were the least likely among their peers to view their campus as welcoming to religious diversity.

The Anti-Defamation League and Hillel International are dedicated to supporting Jewish students and addressing all acts of antisemitism. We are working together to respond to antisemitic activity on campus, and to proactively counter the underlying hatreds and biases that lead to it through education and engagement. To do so, it is vital to ground ourselves in data to understand the nature of antisemitism on college and university campuses today and the experiences of Jewish students. This study was conducted to better understand these national trends by hearing from a nationally representative sample of Jewish students across the United States. This report explores the extent to which Jewish college students face antisemitism and exclusion on campus and seeks to understand how campus communities can most effectively support them. Understanding these trends will help inform our efforts to partner with and educate campus administrators, Hillel professionals, and students, to ensure Jewish students are secure, supported, and empowered.

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