Deletion Rates of Antisemitic Content by Social Media Platforms within 24 Hours

Summary

The following analysis contains the number and deletion rates of antisemitic content after 24 hours.
The content was reported to social media platforms by Members of the European Parliament representing the three largest political groups in the Parliament on November 9, 2021.
The date marks the anniversary of the “Crystal Night”, the infamous pogroms against Jews by the Nazis in Germany in 1938.
The analysis was conducted by the International Institute for Education and Research on Antisemitism, jointly with the Online Antisemitism Task Force.

Backround

Members of the European Parliament from the main political groups took action against antisemitism online during “Christal Night” on November 9, reporting antisemitic content on three major social media platforms.  

After receiving the results of the deletion rate and learning about the overall analysis by the Inernational Institute for Research and Education on Antisemitism (IIBSA) and the Online Task Force Against Antisemitism, they were shocked. Only 11% of the antisemitic content was removed. 

Frederique Ries Belgian MEP from the Renew Europe Group, Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Working Group Against Antisemitism:

Seeing antisemitic publications on the same platforms where you follow friends and family is very troubling. We instinctively think that once reported they would be quickly removed. Problem is, they are not, and the results of our campaign are worrying. How can these clearly antisemitic content be allowed to stay online even after they were reviewed by the platforms? It is unacceptable.“ 

Kim Robin Stoller, chair of the International Institute for Education and Research on Antisemitism in Berlin, an expert on contemporary forms of antisemitism who academically supervised the project, analyzed the findings: 

“Out of 90 antisemitic contents, only 10 were removed by the social media platforms in the prescribed time period. This represents 11%. 
The results are shocking and show that social media platforms do not remove even the most prominent and obvious forms of contemporary antisemitism after they are reported by users.” 

Eliyahou Roth, expert of the international Online Antisemitism Task Force, co-supervising this project, and for 10 years in the fight against online antisemitism, commented: 

“Over the past 10 years we have seen social media taking hate speech more seriously, but the results of 
this campaign, focusing on the oldest and most modern forms of antisemitism, are alarming. 
Social media companies need to do more, much more, and now!”