UK report finds massive online network of far-right antisemitism

16 Jun 2020

A recent study of the British Community Security Trust (CST) explores an increasingly dangerous form of antisemitism, proliferating across a massive online network of extreme far-rightists.

The report of the CST, a leading organization against antisemitism in Britain, revealed the "shocking extent of terror incitement and anti-Jewish hate created and circulated by right-wing extremists on social media." CST said that it would not be publishing the full report online due to the “violent imagery found and the quantity of explicit antisemitism.”

Hate Fuel: The Hidden Online World Fueling Far Right Terror highlights four relatively unregulated and lesser known social media platforms where far right extremists who have left mainstream social media companies gather to share thousands of violent antisemitic posts. The posts on these platforms include promotions of the antisemitic conspiracy myth that Jews are organizing a “Great Replacement” of White People.

According to the report, far-right extremists often “[cite] free speech or privacy as justifications for their role in the promotion or distribution of hateful, inciteful and often violent content." 

"The consequences of inaction are clear. Until this hate fuel is challenged and comprehensively removed, it is likely that further acts of violence will continue or worsen," the report concluded.

In February, the CST published a report finding a 7% rise in antisemitic incidents in 2019 compared to 2018.  According to the CST report, there was a dramatic 82% increase in online antisemitic incidents, which accounted for nearly 40% of the overall reported incidents.  The actual number of online attacks was significantly higher than the number of reported incidents because the report counted thousands of posts against individuals as singular incidents.