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September 2023
Welcome back to Fighting Hate Online, the quarterly newsletter from ADL Center for Tech and Society (CTS). As many of you and your friends cope with antisemitism and other forms of hate online, CTS wants to share our latest work in how to understand and confront these challenges, as well as how we are working with both tech companies and governments to hold the perpetrators of online hate accountable.
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What we’ve been working on
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From Bad to Worse: Social Media and Search Algorithms Contribute to the Proliferation of Online Hate :
In August, CTS
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released two studies in partnership with the Tech Transparency Project that show how some of the biggest social media platforms and search engines at times directly contribute to the proliferation of online antisemitism, hate and extremism.
Why It Matters: Companies have a choice in what to prioritize, including when it comes to tuning algorithms and refining design features to either exacerbate or to curb antisemitism and extremism. As policy debates rage between legislators, regulators, and judges regarding intermediary liability, these investigations underscore the urgency for platforms to do more and for governments to update Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. As CTS’ Yael Eisenstat told
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USA Today , “This completely upends this notion that [platforms] are just neutral pipes, it’s just third-party content and therefore they are doing their best, but they are not actually responsible for what’s happening.”
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Read the full reports here .
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Online Hate and Harassment Survey :
CTS’
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annual survey showed alarming increases in online hate and harassment for adults and teens. 52% of respondents reported that they’ve experienced hate or harassment online in their lifetimes, an increase of 12% from 2022. Yael joined
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MSNBC’s Morning Joe to discuss the findings, and what tech companies and governments can do to keep people safe online. A few key results:
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80% of Jewish people were worried about being harassed for their religion, compared with 41% of non-Jews;
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The most targeted demographic was transgender people, 60% of whom have faced severe online harassment in their lifetimes;
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Reddit, Twitter, TikTok and WhatsApp all saw increases in harassment.
One respondent said, “Photos of me were made into memes. People would make fun of me. I was also contacted in DM. Despite ignoring, not replying, reporting to [Facebook] (who did nothing), [reporting to] the police, and finally taking the person to court, it really messed with me.” CTS is bringing these stories and data to platforms and policymakers to demand safer social media spaces.
Why it matters: We’re pressing for changes from platforms to equally enforce strong policies against hate and harassment and provide resources to their Trust and Safety teams. It’s clear, however, that government action is needed to make social media safe. CTS Director of Research Jordan Kraemer told
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USA Today , “Even when [hate and harassment] stays online, it’s hugely damaging and the people to whom it’s the most damaging are often those who are not in a position of power to make the necessary changes.”
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Read
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the study here.
We are excited to announce the next
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TWO BELFER FELLOWS!
Dr. Deb Donig is an Assistant Professor of English at Cal Poly and a lecturer in UC Berkeley’s School of Information. Her work blends issues of human rights and law with concerns about ethics and technology development.
Dr. Swapneel Mehta studies disinformation on social networks using machine learning and causal inference, including evaluating policy interventions, auditing content recommendation algorithms, and building civic integrity tools. He will conduct research into free speech, social media, and democracy as a Postdoctoral Associate at Boston University and Research Affiliate at MIT.
They’ll both be developing projects with CTS to study generative AI and other emerging tech, and their potential impact on hate and harassment.
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We also...
Welcomed three new team members:
Reuben Lowey, Editorial and Content Director
Parker Bach, Data Researcher
Jyot Singh, Associate Director for Advocacy and Partnerships
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Conducted research on how
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YouTube links on fringe platforms led to “Hate Parties” in YouTube comment sections. CTS has been accepted to present on this at the
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Stanford Internet Observatory’s Trust and Safety Research Conference
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Submitted comment to National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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(NTIA) about policies to ensure that antisemitism, hate, and harassment are pillars of federal government action on AI accountability
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Wrote to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) about mitigating potential harmful impacts of Generative AI
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Kept our eye on the rollout of
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Meta’s Threads App , the company’s new product attempting to replace Twitter/X
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Released a
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scorecard grading social media platforms’ processes for reporting abuse
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Released a
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report exposing hateful usernames on five popular online multiplayer games
ICYMI - CTS Expertise in the News
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April 10, 2023:
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ADL Holocaust denial report rates all social media platforms poorly (The Jerusalem Post)
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January 20, 2023:
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A chatbot that lets you talk with Jesus and Hitler is the latest controversy in the AI gold rush (NBC)
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January 13, 2023:
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The Dangers of Letting Donald Trump Back on Facebook (Time)
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December 18, 2022:
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Confronting Hate and Extremism in Online Games (Tech Policy Press)
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December 15, 2022:
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Exclusive: U.S. lawmakers press top game companies on extremism (Axios)
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December 14, 2022: Yael on NBC’s
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‘Epidemic of Hate: Antisemitism in America’
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December 2, 2022:
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Hate Speech’s Rise on Twitter Under Elon Musk Is Unprecedented, Researchers Find (New York Times)
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November 4, 2022:
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Elon Musk’s Need for Speed Puts Twitter in Peril (Wired)
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November 2, 2022:
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Musk personally led call with civil rights groups to address hate speech on Twitter (Politico)
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October 7, 2022:
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Yael Eisenstat: Why we need more friction on social media (NPR TED Radio Hour)
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