Social media ‘introducing teenagers to anti-semitism’

INSTAGRAM and Tiktok are “introducing” teenagers to anti-semitism, a report has found as researchers warned that algorithms are leading users down a “rabbit hole of political extremism”.

A study by Hope Not Hate, an antiracism organisation, found the social networks are allowing hashtags linked with anti-semitic tropes such as #Jewworldorder and #synagogueofsatan.

Researchers also discovered that people are using filters and emojis to make anti-jewish and Israeli content on the apps. The report, called Anti-semitism in the Digital Age, found anti-jewish content is also being widely published on social networks such as Reddit and Telegram.

The report found that despite Instagram’s clear policies banning content claiming that Jewish people “run the world”, it was “easy” to find material on anti-semitic conspiracy theories.

It said: “[Instagram’s algorithms] can also play a role in guiding users down a rabbit hole of political extremism.”

The organisation found that while Tiktok banned explicitly anti-semitic hashtags such as #killthejews others such as #rothschildfamily, #synagogueofsatan and #soros have been viewed 25.1 million times in half a year.

Following the report, Joe Mulhall, of Hope Not Hate, said: “It’s simply astounding that despite 10 years of attempts to eradicate hate speech, we were able to find anti-semitism on every social media platform we investigated. A new generation of social media users have been introduced to antisemitic ideas they would be unlikely to encounter elsewhere.”

A spokesman for Tiktok said it “condemns anti-semitism, and we work to combat hate by removing accounts and content that violate our policies”.

An Instagram spokesman added: “Anti-semitism is completely unacceptable and we don’t allow it anywhere on Instagram.”