ADL Articles

1212 Results

Diverse and Complex Narratives Cultivate Empathy and Action

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Image of a protest from NBC's Superstore TV show.

November 10, 2020 How people are portrayed on television – matters. Increasingly diverse storylines, characters and content creators are widely seen as positive, but how is this trend affecting the prevalence of stereotypes in our culture? Is it increasing our ability to empathize and act? In a recent study, Define American and USC’s Norman Lear Center examined depictions of immigrants on television and the impact of those portrayals. The study examined depictions of 129 unique…

November 10, 2020

ADL Debunk: Election Edition

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November 09, 2020 The 2020 Election has thrown America’s divisions into sharp relief. Beneath the distrust and anger, pervasive disinformation campaigns are poisoning our body politic. Researchers at ADL’s Center on Extremism have examined a number of these campaigns, exposing the falsehoods, twisted truths and outright lies. Disinformation: Claims that the NAACP issued a warning about upcoming white supremacist actions that would put Black men and boys at risk…

November 09, 2020

Right-wing Extremists React to President-elect Biden’s Victory with Anger and Vague Threats of Violence

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November 08, 2020 On Saturday, November 7, 2020, all major media outlets called the presidential election for now President-elect Joe Biden. Right-wing extremists reacted to the news as expected -- with anger, distrust and nebulous, non-specific threats of violence. The Proud Boys appear to be primarily focused on disseminating and elevating unfounded rumors of election fraud. Some members posted vague threats of violence. Leader Enrique Tarrio wrote on his Parler feed, “We’re…

November 08, 2020

QAnon proponent wins Georgia House race; ADL offering $3,000 reward for information on gravestone vandalism in Michigan

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November 06, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 As the country waited anxiously for all the votes to be counted in the U.S. presidential election, ADL urged calm and patience and reiterated our longstanding calls that every vote counts and every vote must be counted. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican candidate from Georgia who has espoused the antisemitic QAnon conspiracy theory and employed racist rhetoric during her congressional campaign was elected to the House of Representatives. And ADL…

November 06, 2020

Philadelphia Police Stop Potential Election-Related Attack by QAnon Adherent

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November 06, 2020 On November 5, 2020, Philadelphia police arrested two men from Virginia, thwarting a possible attack targeting people counting votes from Tuesday’s election at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Antonio LaMotta, 61, and Joshua Macias, 42, were arrested after police received a tip that the men were traveling to Philadelphia to allegedly engage in unspecified criminal activity. Police arrested the two men as they approached officers who were investigating their…

November 06, 2020

Extremists, Others Respond to President Trump’s Calls to “Stop the Count”

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November 06, 2020 Less than 24 hours ago, the country heard President Trump speak from the White House and make wild accusations of massive voter fraud that appear to be entirely out of line with the facts. He repeated baseless conspiracy theories and called for action. There literally is no precedent for a sitting president to denigrate our democracy and to undermine the integrity of our electoral processes in this manner. But in light of the tension across the country and the demonstrated…

November 06, 2020

Electoral Misinformation on Twitter: 39% of Problematic Tweets Reported by ADL Go Unaddressed by Platform in Crucial Post-Election Timeframe

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November 05, 2020 A subset of high-profile, misinformation-laden posts reached a combined potential audience of more than 108M followers, with over 1.1M likes and retweets prior to ADL reporting them to Twitter on November 4, 2020. From the time ADL reported the tweets to Twitter on November 4 until our final check on November 9, we found that the misleading tweets that remained unaddressed by the social media platform had been liked or retweeted more than 297,000 additional times. Tweets…

November 05, 2020

Pittsburgh: We remember and reflect; Jeremy Corbyn suspended by U.K. Labour Party over antisemitism report; Leader of Neo-Nazi terror group The Base arrested in Michigan

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October 30, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 Two years after a white supremacist gunned down 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, ADL reflects on the memories of those lost and what we as a nation can do to prevent another tragedy like this. The U.K. Labour Party has suspended its former leader, Jeremy Corbyn, after a watchdog report found that the party failed to properly take action against allegations of antisemitism during his time in charge. The FBI arrested a member…

October 30, 2020

Words Matter: Reflecting on the 25 Years Since Yitzhak Rabin’s Assassination

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by: Ken Jacobson October 28, 2020 Note: This blog originally appeared in The Times of Israel on Oct. 28, 2020. Twenty-five years have passed since the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the winner of the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize for his attempts to achieve a lasting peace with the Palestinian Authority. Inevitably, a sad milestone like this causes us to look back at that day, to assess its significance from the perspective of a quarter of a century later, and to…

October 28, 2020

At the Extremes: The 2020 Election and American Extremism | Part 6

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October 28, 2020 In the weeks leading up to the 2020 presidential election, the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) Center on Extremism (COE) in conjunction with ADL’s Center for Technology and Society is releasing a series of news briefs on topics of concern regarding the role extremists and extremism more broadly are playing in our current political environment. Here's Part 6: As QAnon Tightens Its Paranoid Grip on the U.S., Here’s a Helpful Guide to the Lunacy [See here:…

October 28, 2020

Two Years After Synagogue Massacre, Gab Remains Extremists' Online Destination of Choice

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October 27, 2020 Two years ago, white supremacist Robert Bowers killed 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh after posting antisemitic, anti-immigrant rants on Gab. Today, supported by a founder who encourages hate speech, the social media site appears to be gaining traction among right-wing extremists, including white supremacists: Sixty percent of the 47 right-wing extremist groups currently on Gab were created this year. Gab is rife with white supremacist groups. …

October 27, 2020

At the Extremes: The 2020 Election and American Extremism | Part 5

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October 22, 2020 In the weeks leading up to the 2020 presidential election, the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) Center on Extremism (COE) in conjunction with ADL’s Center for Technology and Society is releasing a series of news briefs on topics of concern regarding the role extremists and extremism more broadly are playing in our current political environment. Here's Part 5: Extremists and non-Extremists alike target Michigan Governor with violent threats Who/What: Michigan…

October 22, 2020

Voting FAQ: How to Vote and Other Ways to Get Involved

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During election season, a lot of information gets circulated about what’s happening and what your options are. It can be hard to figure out what’s true, what isn’t, and what you can do. We’re here to help. This post is for you whether you’re eligible to vote or not – civic engagement is for everyone, because government affects us all. This is in Question & Answer form, so you can go straight to the issues that are most relevant to you. Who is eligible to…

October 22, 2020

Facebook bans Holocaust denial posts; NYC Jewish man berated for not wearing mask on empty street; YouTube cracks down on QAnon conspiracy theory

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October 16, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 After years of urging from ADL and other civil rights organizations, Facebook will ban posts that deny the Holocaust. A video has gone viral on social media of a man shouting at a Hasidic Jewish man for not wearing a mask on an empty New York City street. YouTube on Thursday became the latest social media giant to take steps to stop QAnon, the sprawling right-wing conspiracy theory community whose online fantasies about a cabal of satanic pedophiles…

October 16, 2020

At the Extremes: The 2020 Election and American Extremism | Part 4

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October 15, 2020 In the weeks leading up to the 2020 presidential election, the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) Center on Extremism (COE) in conjunction with ADL’s Center for Technology and Society is releasing a series of news briefs on topics of concern regarding the role extremists and extremism more broadly are playing in our current political environment. Here's Part 4: Extremism Resources: What You Need to Know to Navigate the Last Three Weeks of the 2020 Election…

October 15, 2020

One Year of Backspacing Hate

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October 15, 2020 Nearly half of American adults experience online harassment and nearly one third experience severe harassment, but society still struggles with understanding the deep impact of online hate. Too often, we see “online hate” contrasted with “real world violence.” Trust us: to victims and targets of swatting, doxing, cyberstalking, and cyberharassment, the abuse they experience online is very real. We know that digital abuse pushes targets offline…

October 15, 2020

Jewish lawmakers face ‘alarming’ antisemitic tweets; Facebook will ban groups that support QAnon; Feds thwart militia plot to kidnap Michigan governor

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October 11, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 Jewish members of Congress are facing antisemitic attacks on Twitter in the lead-up to the November election, according to a new report from ADL. Facebook said it is escalating the campaign against QAnon, pledging to remove any Facebook pages, groups and Instagram accounts aligned with the conspiracy group. The FBI says it thwarted what it described as a plot to violently overthrow the government and kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Read on…

October 11, 2020

Thirteen Men Arrested for Plotting to Kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer

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October 08, 2020 Update: October 13, 2020: Militia members charged with plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also discussed kidnapping Virginia’s governor during a June meeting in Ohio, according to an FBI agent's testimony. “They discussed possible targets, taking a sitting governor, specifically issues with the governor of Michigan and Virginia based on the lockdown orders,” the agent told a Michigan courtroom. On October…

October 08, 2020

At the Extremes: The 2020 Election and American Extremism | Part 3

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October 08, 2020 At the Extremes: The 2020 Election and American Extremism In the weeks leading up to the 2020 presidential election, the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) Center on Extremism in conjunction with ADL’s Center for Technology and Society are releasing a series of news briefs on topics of concern regarding the role extremism plays in our current political environment. Here's Part 3: Conspiracy Theories and Anti-Asian Hostility on Twitter Who/What: After President…

October 08, 2020

Facebook “Patriot” Pages Aren’t Extremist, But Are Rife with Violent Rhetoric Urging Civil War

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October 07, 2020 “Like it or not it’s about to become a ‘significant time in American history’: Patriots vs. traitors…Start preparing now: food, ammo, fuel…ballots and/or bullets. God knows my heart, and my aim is true.” Such a message would not be a surprising discovery on extremist platforms like Telegram or Gab, but we are increasingly seeing this violent and apocalyptic rhetoric on Facebook “Patriot” pages, populated largely by…

October 07, 2020