ADL: Millions Are Using Twitter as 'Megaphone' of Hatred Against Jews

Millions of Twitter users are spreading anti-Semitic and hateful messages about Jews on the social media platform, according to a new report Monday by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

"As a result of a pilot research project, the Anti-Defamation League can estimate that a minimum of approximately 4.2 million English language anti-Semitic tweets were disseminated between January 29, 2017 and January 28, 2018," the report says.

"Of course, 4.2 million tweets is a very small number out of the trillions of tweets sent on the platform each year. But that does not negate the lived experience of Jews who have found Twitter to be a toxic environment," it adds.

The study found that the number of anti-Semitic tweets spiked during major events, like the White Supremacist rally in Charlottesville and when President Donald Trump publicly recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and that he intended to move the U.S. embassy there.

Anti-Semitic tweets also erupted in October 2017 when movie producer Harvey Weinstein, who is Jewish, came under fire for sexually abusing women. 

"The story touches on multiple long-standing anti-Semitic tropes, including Jewish control of Hollywood and the media, and Jewish sexual degeneracy and perversion," the report says.

Holocaust deniers also promoted former White House spokesman Sean Spicer's comment that Adolf Hitler "didn't even sink to using chemical weapons."

"Although Spicer quickly clarified that he was not referring to the death camps in which Jews were killed, Holocaust deniers stuck to their own script," the report says.

The report also noted several conspiracy theories that blamed "the hidden hand of the Jews for many of the world's worst tragedies and disasters.

The ADL says a "non-negligible percentage" of anti-Semitic tweets were taken down, either by Twitter itself or the Twitter users who posted them.

The report also included a set of policy recommendations for Twitter to fight online harassment and hate.

"ADL already works with Twitter to help them address anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry on their platform, and we know this is a difficult challenge to solve. We are proud to be part of Twitter's Trust and Safety Council and to partner with Twitter as a member of our Problem Solving Lab to explore engineering-based approaches to address online hate and harassment. We already have seen the company make real progress on these issues and demonstrate leadership among social media platforms," the report says.

However, ADL national director and CEO Jonathan Greenblatt says the data shows many are currently using Twitter as a "megaphone to harass and intimidate Jews."