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Highlights Rising Anti-Semitism and Issues of Cyberhate
New York, NY, September 27, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) raised concerns about the growing threat of anti-Semitism within the 57 participating States of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and proposed a number of policy recommendations on cyber security and hate crimes.
At the annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) on September 26 in Warsaw, Poland, ADL presented recommendations on advancing the security and dignity of those targeted by hate crimes, with a specific focus on social media platforms.
“We are very concerned about the rise of global anti-Semitism that has plagued many European Jewish communities as well as the volume of anti-Semitic content that has flooded social media in the U.S. and abroad,” said Stacy Burdett, ADL VP of Government Relations, Advocacy & Community Engagement. “Since the fight for human rights of Jews and the rights of all targets of bigotry and discrimination is interconnected, implementing such recommendations has the great potential of enhancing governments’ capacity to address anti-Semitism as well as all forms of intolerance and hate crime.”
Some of ADL’s main recommendations to the OSCE included:
Define the Problem:
States cannot address a problem without understanding its elements. The definition of anti-Semitism adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) should be utilized by States and the OSCE Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to help officials address anti-Semitic incidents effectively.
Monitor and Shine Light on the Problem:
Governments simply must do better in monitoring anti-Semitism and improving data collection and reporting. Only 36 of the 57 participating States submitted information to the ODIHR for its most recent report in 2014.
Government Outreach:
States have to fulfill the basic responsibility to protect Jewish communities and sites by creating supportive and safe spaces for groups to work with each other.
ADL recently highlighted some of these same concerns on social media harassment at the United Nations Forum on Global Anti-Semitism, which included a panel of solutions for the digital age, and has convened a task force to address anti-Semitic and racist harassment of journalists on social media.