Internationale brandbrief online antisemitisme

Uit een rapport van de European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) uit 2024 blijkt dat maar liefst 90% van de Joden online antisemitische content is tegengekomen in het voorgaande jaar. Hiernaast kwam 55% van hen online in aanraking met het aanzetten tot geweld. De antisemitismebestrijders richten zich met hun brandbrief daarom tot de bedrijven achter ’s werelds grootste sociale mediabedrijven: Meta (Instagram, Facebook en Threads), ByteDance (TikTok), YouTube LLC (YouTube) en X Corp. (X).

''Deze bedrijven moeten zich realiseren dat online antisemitisme consequenties heeft in de offline wereld en kan leiden tot discriminatie en geweld tegen Joden,” zegt Eddo Verdoner, Nationaal Coördinator Antisemitismebestrijding (NCAB) en initiatiefnemer van de brandbrief. ,,De cijfers zijn schokkend en het aantal incidenten neemt steeds verder toe. Sociale mediabedrijven moeten nu in actie komen.”

In de brandbrief identificeren de nationaal coördinatoren en speciaal gezanten diverse risico’s, zoals de werking van algoritmes, die steeds extremere antisemitische content op de tijdlijnen van gebruikers plaatsen. Ook de gevaren van AI-systemen die zich baseren op bestaande antisemitische vooroordelen en deze daardoor versterken, de zogeheten ‘confirmation bias’, komen aan bod. Ze roepen daarom op tot onder andere het aanstellen van voldoende experts die antisemitische content kunnen beoordelen, tot strengere contentmoderatie op sociale media en meer transparantie over bijvoorbeeld de mate waarin antisemitisme op de platforms voorkomt.

Verdoner roept op tot daadkrachtige actie: ''Sociale mediabedrijven hebben dus nog grote stappen te zetten. Wij roepen hen met klem op ervoor te zorgen dat er geen plek voor antisemitisme is op hun platforms.''

De volledige tekst van de brief (Engels) en de namen van de afzenders vindt u hier:

We are Special Envoys, Coordinators, and Commissioners responsible for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism. Appointed by governments and international organisations, we dedicate our efforts to counter antisemitism in our own countries, regions, and around the world. We write to you out of grave concern about the spread of antisemitism on your platforms.

Antisemitism is on the rise, both in the online and offline world. It is crucial that online platforms take their responsibility in ensuring a safe online space. Antisemitism online has real world consequences and can lead to radicalisation and violence. According to a survey published by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) in 2024, 55% of Jews had encountered online incitement of violence against Jews in the previous year. These shocking numbers prove that it is of the utmost importance that online platforms take immediate action to combat online antisemitism.

We would like to highlight a few areas of particular concern. Firstly, we are worried about algorithms that allow for the continuous affirmation of posts containing harmful content such as Holocaust denial and violence against Jews. In particular, we believe online platforms should be extremely alert about the potential negative consequences of AI due to its tendency to absorb and amplify biases. Secondly, we alert you to the fact that antisemitism can be hard to identify due to its many forms. Therefore, it is important that online platforms have the appropriate expertise to identify antisemitism, and stay informed on evolving trends. Lastly, we are deeply concerned that hate speech, such as antisemitism, is not sufficiently moderated due to overreliance on AI, community notes, and decreased measures.

The European Union (EU) has made great strides with the regulation of online hate speech through the Digital Services Act (DSA), and the revised Code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online. We urge for the immediate and full implementation of the DSA and the Code of Conduct within the EU and for the implementation of the same action and values outside of it, since antisemitism knows no borders.

Therefore, we urge you to ensure that antisemitism has no place on your platforms by finding solutions and taking concrete measures, including:

• Make sure content moderation is effective, in line with the laws in the territories of the respective signatories such as the DSA. Moderation must always be supported by human review.

• Adhere to legally mandated compliance standards related to hate speech and relevant laws in the countries and regions in which you operate.

• Use effective measures to promptly remove harmful content that promotes hate and violence against Jews and others.

• Increase the transparency of underlying algorithms, moderation decisions, and the prevalence of antisemitism on online platforms. For example, by following the revised EU Code of Conduct’s recommendation of publishing country-level data broken down by the internal classification of hate speech.

• Use AI and algorithms carefully to ensure they do not perpetuate antisemitic and Holocaust distorting and denying content.

• Make sure that there is enough expertise and capacity to classify antisemitic content and determine the appropriate actions.

Through our combined strengths we can tackle online antisemitism. In the context of this letter, we would like to initiate a conversation, and will be in touch to set a date for this purpose. Thank you for taking note of our concerns and we look forward to your response.

Representatives of regional organizations (in alphabetical order of organizations)

Andrew Baker, Personal Representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Anti-Semitism

Fernando Lottenberg, Organization of American States Commissioner (OAS) to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism

National representatives (in alphabetical order of countries)

Jillian Segal AO, Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism

Antonio Martino, Director Department IV/12 Fostering Austrian-Jewish Cultural Heritage and Combating Antisemitism

Vince Szalay-Bobrovniczky, Deputy State Secretary for Social and Civil Affairs, Prime Minister’s Office, Hungary 

Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Special Envoy for Combatting Antisemitism, Israel 

Arvydas Daunoravičius, Ambassador-at-Large, Lithuania 

Michel Heintz, Interministerial delegate for policies against antisemitism, racism and lgtbiq+ hatred, Luxembourg 

Eddo Verdoner, National Coordinator on Combating Antisemitism for the Government of the Netherlands 

Bogdan Mazuru, Special Representative of the Government of Romania for the remembrance policies and for the fight against antisemitism and xenophobia

Dragoș Hotea, Coordinator of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for monitoring the implementation of the 2024-2027 National Strategy for Preventing and Combating Anti-Semitism, Xenophobia, Radicalization and Hate Speech, Romania

Lord John Mann, Independent Advisor to the United Kingdom Government on Antisemitism