New York
CNN
—
A Jewish lawmaker who spoke about the issue of antisemitism on Twitter throughout a Home Oversight hearing this week centered on the corporate was later bombarded with antisemitic messages on the platform, he defined in a letter to new proprietor Elon Musk on Thursday.
“What occurred on Twitter instantly after the listening to proves my precise level that antisemitism is actual and Twitter has grow to be a hate-filled playground for Nazis and anti-Semites,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz advised CNN concerning the hateful feedback he acquired.
On the listening to on Wednesday, which centered on Twitter’s dealing with of a New York Publish story about Hunter Biden’s laptop computer within the leadup to the 2020 election, the Florida Democrat criticized his Republican counterparts for saying “God bless Elon Musk.” Moskowitz requested: “God bless the fellows who’s permitting Nazis and antisemitism to perpetuate on Twitter?” He additionally cited statistics from the Anti-Defamation League, stating there was a greater than 60% improve in antisemitic feedback on Twitter since Musk took over the platform.
Below Musk’s management, Twitter has slashed its workers, relaxed a few of its content material moderation insurance policies and reinstated plenty of incendiary accounts that have been beforehand banned. These strikes raised considerations that Musk’s Twitter might contribute to a rise in public displays of hate and antisemitism offline.
Musk, nevertheless, has repeatedly pushed back at claims that hate speech is rising on the platform. In December, for instance, Musk claimed “hate speech impressions,” or the variety of occasions a tweet containing hate speech has been considered, “proceed to say no” since his early days of proudly owning the corporate.
Twitter, which eradicated a lot of its public relations workforce throughout final 12 months’s layoffs, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Moskowitz and lots of different Democrats on the subpanel used their allotted time to grill the previous Twitter executives testifying on the listening to concerning the firm’s insurance policies for policing hate on the platform. Throughout his questioning, Moskowitz additionally rebuked former President Donald Trump for hosting white nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago final 12 months. He introduced a big copy of a hateful publish that Fuentes had tweeted at Moskowitz, telling the room, “No, not all Republicans are Nazis, however I gotta let you know, Nazis appear actually comfy with Donald Trump. So I’ve questions on that.”
In his letter to Musk, Moskowitz stated he shared a clip displaying his line of questioning on his official authorities Twitter account, after which “the reply part of my publish was flooded with hateful, antisemitic feedback and pictures.” He added: “On the time that I’m penning this letter, I’ve acquired over 200 such feedback on one tweet. This doesn’t embody different posts of mine which have since acquired antisemitic feedback, together with a video honoring the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas taking pictures.”
Moskowitz pointed to a November 30 Nationwide Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin warning from the Division of Homeland Safety, which “issued home terror threats to a number of teams, together with the Jewish group,” as proof of his heightened concern. “DHS notes that menace actors have not too long ago mobilized to violence, and there’s an ‘enduring menace’ to the Jewish group,” he writes.
“With this direct and heightened menace setting in thoughts, how will you’re employed with different stakeholders to fight the rise of antisemitism on Twitter?,” Moskowitz concludes in his letter to Musk.
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, echoed Moskowitz’s considerations.
“Antisemitism has no place on any social media platform that doesn’t wish to additional the harassment and exclusion of marginalized communities,” Greenblatt advised CNN Thursday. “Whereas Twitter ostensibly has an anti-hate coverage that features antisemitism, it’s unclear the diploma to which it’s being enforced.”
Greenblatt stated the ADL continues to flag “batches of antisemitic content material” to Twitter, however he stated the corporate has solely taken motion on “a fraction of them” since Musk acquired the corporate. He additionally raised considerations concerning the workers cuts and the reinstated accounts that have been banned beforehand.
“These findings, mixed with Twitter gutting its belief and security operations, counsel critical points will proceed to persist on the platform because it pertains to efficient content material moderation and the proliferation of antisemitism,” Greenblatt stated.
