Raising awareness of digital terrorism

The overall goal certainly is to marginalize hate and terrorism as much as possible.”

Rick Eaton, Simon Wiesenthal Center

With the rise of hate speech on the internet, especially by anti-Semites, and the rash of post-election incidents, terrorism on social media has become a hot topic and was the subject of a presentation by Rick Eaton, senior researcher of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, at Young Israel of Hewlett on Dec. 4.

Ivan Goodstein, president of the shul, attended the “Digital Terrorism and Hate Project” forum and said it was an eye-opening experience because it provided him with a deeper understanding about how often digital terrorism incidents occur. About 40 people attended, he said, which included community members from both within and outside the synagogue.

An auxiliary officer in the 4th Precinct, Goodstein, of Hewlett, said he began to see the increase in biased behavior several months before Election Day. “We have to walk around today with our eyes open and really pay attention to everything around us,” he said. 

The Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center is a global human rights organization that researches the Holocaust and confronts anti-Semitism, hate and terrorism.

The center has monitored online hate since the late 1990s, Eaton said, and they have published 18 digital terrorism reports of digital terrorism and hate. Eaton, of Los Angeles, was on the East Coast recently to deliver presentations to several classes at two New Jersey schools. He worked with the center to develop an educational seminar for junior high and high school students to address best social media practices and internet safety. 

“The overall goal certainly is to marginalize hate and terrorism as much as possible,” Eaton said, adding that he meet with representatives of with social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Google and YouTube on a regular basis to discuss the issue of digital terrorism and the hateful interactions that exist on such sites. “Things are getting better, but the internet and social media are still the Wild, Wild West,” Eaton explained.

According to Twitter’s hateful conduct policy, users “may not promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability or disease.” 

Accounts that violate the policy through violent threats, harassment, hateful conduct, impersonation, self-harm, divulging private information or creating multiple accounts to avoid suspension may result in a temporary lock and/or permanent suspension of a user.

“It is critical that students learn early on that this kind of rhetoric is not right,” Evan Bernstein, the Anti-Defamation League’s New York regional director, said of the significant increase in the number of reported anti-Semitic incidents happening in middle and high schools, and on college campuses. The ADL is a civil rights and human relations organization founded in 1913 “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all,” according to its website.

Bernstein confirmed the dramatic uptick in hate crimes after the election and explained that certain groups felt bolstered by the results. These individuals and/or groups are becoming increasingly vocal on social media and in schools. “Our biggest fear is that this is becoming the norm,” Bernstein said, of the frequent swastika appearances and hateful behavior. 

“As the father of young children, I see firsthand how connected our next generation is to their internet and social media devices along with us adults,” Michael Cohen, eastern director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said. Cohen, who organized the program, emphasized the importance of education and empowerment to combat hateful acts. 

Send information about a possible hate incidents to ireport@wiesenthal.com or www.adl.org.

Have an opinion about the rise in digital terrorism? Send your letter to the editor to jbessen@liherald.com.