Many theories are downright anti-Semitic, but far-right activists are working to turn anti-blocking beliefs into anti-Semitism.

Warning: Covid’s conspiracy theories are helping to spread anti-Semitic beliefs to a wider audience, warns a new report by the anti-racist group Hope not Hate. The report says not only has the pandemic revived interest in the New World Order conspiracy theory of a secret Jewish elite that aims to rule the world, but far-right activists have also worked to turn people into blocking and anti-blocking vaccines. beliefs in active anti-Semitism.

The worst offenders: The authors easily found anti-Semitism in all nine investigated platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Some of them use coded language to avoid detection and moderation by algorithms, but most of them are explicit and easily detectable. Not surprisingly, the authors found a close link between the amount of anti-Semitism in the platform and how lightly or weakly it moderates: the weaker the moderation, the bigger the problem.

Some specifics: The report warns that the Telegram messaging app has quickly become one of the worst offenders, hosting many anti-Semitic channels, some of which boast tens of thousands of members. A channel that promotes the conspiracy theory of the New World Order has gained 90,000 followers since its creation in February 2021. However, this is a problem on every platform. Jewish creators at TikTok complain that they face a torrent of anti-Semitism on the platform and are often targeted at groups that massively report their accounts to be temporarily banned.

Case: The authors cite a man who was radicalized during the pandemic as a typical example of how people may eventually be forced to adopt increasingly extreme views. In early 2020, Attila Hildmann was a successful vegetarian chef in Germany, but in just one year he went from seemingly apolitical to “just asking some questions” as influential on social media to spew hatred and incite violence. .

What can be done: Many of the platforms under investigation have had more than a decade to deal with the regulation and moderation of hate speech, and some progress has been made. However, although major platforms have become better at eliminating anti-Semitic organizations, they are still struggling to eliminate anti-Semitic content created by individuals, the report warns.