Dear John,

That was a comment from Rep. Anna Eshoo, in my favorite moment from last month’s House hearing with tech CEOs to confront the misinformation and extremism on their platforms. Eshoo grilled Google CEO Sundar Pichai about YouTube’s role in radicalizing users, and was able to use an authoritative new ADL report to drive the issue home. You can take a look at this short video clip from the hearing to watch the exchange.

I hope you are holding up well during these difficult days. One thing that gives me strength is reflecting on the impact of the Center for Technology and Society (CTS), especially in moments like that hearing when our reports are reaching the halls of lawmakers to push for change to fight antisemitism and extremism.

We saw this again in California, where the state’s Assembly livestreamed a hearing for Assembly Bill 587 last week. ADL has been working closely with Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel to introduce this legislation, which would require social media platforms to disclose their policies, if any, on hate speech, disinformation, extremism, harassment and foreign political interference—and how they enforce these policies. The bill has been praised by civil society groups and stands a real chance of turning into law.

Since the January 6 insurrection, evidence of the dangers of hate and disinformation online have increased significantly and CTS has played a role in bringing these issues to the public’s attention. We’ve shown that antisemitism, disinformation and harassment aren’t just in fringe corners of the internet, but are affecting millions of people every day.

Our latest “Online Hate and Harassment” survey makes this point evident. Seventy-five percent of respondents who were harassed said at least some of that happened on Facebook and other mainstream social media platforms.

Facebook is the world’s most popular social media platform, with approximately 2.8 billion users. Despite these big tech companies using thousands of human content moderators and developing artificial intelligence software to enforce their rules, 41% of Americans who responded to the survey still said they had experienced online harassment.

One of our more alarming findings was that African American respondents who reported being harassed reported a sharp rise in race-based harassment, from 42% last year to 59% this year, and Asian Americans saw an increase in severe harassment — rising to 17% this year, up from 11% last year. Among Jewish respondents, reports of severe online harassment climbed as well, from 20% to 22%.

We all deserve safe, inclusive spaces, but for vulnerable communities, that need is more urgent as we’ve seen words on computer screens manifest into physical violence. We want to make the internet a better place for people by holding social media companies accountable for algorithms that amplify hate, extremism, and disinformation.

ADL is pushing for laws that do a better job protecting victims of online harassment through our REPAIR Plan. Transparency bills like California’s AB 587 are a necessary and vital step in the right direction, as having clear, regularly updated metrics used across the industry help inform public policy that protects our freedoms.

Although we regularly hold social media platforms to account, we give praise when it’s due. Our new report, “Politics, Gaming Culture, and Content Moderation on Twitch,” details how Twitch’s use of savvy, experienced community moderators helped create positive, entertaining experiences during four livestreamed events co-hosted by prominent politicians. These events drew hundreds of thousands of users yet didn’t devolve into hate and harassment. This report illustrated how platforms like Twitch can create a better internet.

I’m proud of all that CTS has accomplished, and I’m honored to help carry ADL’s legacy of fighting antisemitism and other forms of hate into new frontiers. Expect much more from us.

Yours in solidarity,
Dave Sifry
VP, Center for Technology and Society
ADL