Heads of organizations fighting online anti-Semitism have warned that the current social media dynamics are unacceptable and dangerous.
Cyberwell executive director and founder Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor spoke to CBN News about the October 7th 2023 terrorist attack.
“Due to the attack on October 7, the first hijacking of social media platforms by terrorist groups, Hamas has seen the recurring cycle of these flooded social media platforms. “And that was the case with the attack on October 7, and we also found itself repeated in the Amsterdam program that took place just a few months ago.”
Montemayor continued. “So we’ve seen this cycle of virtually fetishization of physical harm to Jews online.”
With this influx of content, she said there was a “very worried narrative change” and explained how her organization is set up to track and tackle these issues.
“Cyberwell is the first open database of online anti-Semitism,” Montemayor told CBN News. “We are actually a non-profit initiative and are completely independent. We work globally and directly on social media platforms to improve and improve digital policies and community standards, and remove anti-Semitic content on a large scale.”
One of the issues Montemayor noted was his recent social media activity regarding rapper Kanye West’s comments on Adolf Hitler and the Jews.
She said it was not the first time such rhetoric has come from the West, and said the action was an abuse of social media platforms and algorithms.
“Hitler’s glory is absolutely beyond pale,” she said. “Kanye West has 32 million followers with strong Twitter accounts. It’s well over 50 million accounts across social media.”
Finally, Montemayor said such actions would create an “echo chamber” on social media that extends far beyond West’s commentary. She believes that social media outlets need to do more to protect against such attitudes.
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“I think there’s a big part of the puzzle here. So, social media platforms should be expected to implement a policy of scale,” she said. “To encourage greater action here is, this is extremely dangerous as you and frankly, you are experiencing one of the worst anti-Semitism onslaughts ever, in hopes that your social media platform will enforce their policies on a massive scale.”
Cyberwell stepped into the gap and helps social media companies navigate the difficult lines of censorship and violations of terms by flagging content based on platforms that violate certain policies.
“We learn and study their digital policies,” Montemayor said. “And all the analytics and data we share directly with them follow their own rules, so we really approach them from a compliance standpoint.”
Ultimately, she doesn’t think West’s message in X is a form of freedom of speech. Especially because it comes when the Jews face such an onslaught of confusion and hatred. Montemayor believes West’s actions create challenges.
“This episode challenges people to think. What is the difference between free speech and paid speech, free speech, algorithmically charged speech? When you think about free speech, do you really mean that when you write or say something, it can reach 30 million people?” she said. “Perhaps not.”
Montemayor concluded with advice to X and other social media companies, urging X to implement and implement existing rules regarding hate speech. As for meta, she also pleaded with the company to reconsider its recent decision to push back hate speech and roll back automatic filters.
“If you look at the language of Kanye West’s tweets, this is something that can easily be created to create automated tools and actually implement digital policies at scale,” she said. “All Americans know that they can’t scream ‘fire’ in crowded theatres. why? Because people get injured. ”
Montemayor continued. “When it comes to the Jewish community, we are already in crowded theatres. So these social media platforms need to remain vigilant about the expectations of enforcing policy on scale, especially when it comes to spreading anti-Semitism, the oldest form of hatred.”
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