The use of anti-Semitic symbols and posts denying the Holocaust increased dramatically in January 2018 compared to the same period in 2016, the World Jewish Congress (WJC) found in a recent study commissioned ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Key findings of the report indicate that 30 percent more posts using anti-Semitic symbols were recorded during this time frame, along with twice the number of conversations denying the Holocaust.

The WJC produced the report ‘Anti-Semitic Symbols and Holocaust Denial in Social Media Posts: January 2018’ in collaboration with Vigo Social Intelligence, as a follow-up to its comprehensive initial study on the scale and impact of anti-Semitism online released in 2016. The secondary study was intended to cover the period of January 1-24, on areas specifically related to Holocaust denial, which holds significant importance leading up to International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27 and coinciding with the World Jewish Congress’ 2018 We Remember campaign, the largest Holocaust commemoration initiative in the world. WJC CEO and Executive Vice President Robert Singer presented the findings of the latest report to the Rome International Conference on Fighting Anti-Semitism in the OSCE Area on January 29.

Online platforms fared differently in the frequency of posted anti-Semitic content between 2016 and 2018. While there was a sharp increase in anti-Semitic messages on Twitter and on websites and blog platforms, the WJC found a decrease in anti-Semitic messages on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube compared to the same period in 2016. Across the platforms, approximately 550 posts per day on average contained the use of neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic symbols over the course of January 1-24, 2018, at a rate of 23 posts per hour; in addition, 108 posts per day on average denied the Holocaust, for a total of 4.5 posts per hour. A total of 13,200 posts over the course of this period included symbols or signs relating to the Holocaust or Hitler’s regime; 2,600 posts denied the existence of the Holocaust outright, or claimed that Jews were exaggerating its scope and the number of its victims.

Key differences were also seen between nations, where the report found a significant decrease in the use of neo-Nazi symbols in Germany, but noted that Poland, Switzerland, and Serbia, jumped from marginal reference in 2016 into the top 10 in 2018 with regard to the variables surveyed.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)