HO:PE Training in Berlin Empowers Communities to Tackle Antisemitic Hate Across Online Platforms

BERLIN – Yfat Barak-Cheney, Executive Director of the World Jewish Congress’s Technology and Human Rights Institute (TecHRI), together with External Relations Manager Máté Holler, led a training session in Berlin as part of Hate Online: Preparedness and Empowerment (HO:PE), an EU-funded initiative aimed at strengthening community capacity to address online antisemitism.

The training brought together participants to examine how antisemitic content manifests across digital platforms and to develop practical strategies for identifying, reporting, and responding to such content.

The sessions combined conceptual and hands-on elements, beginning with an overview of how online hate speech operates, including the distinction between illegal content and harmful but lawful speech, as well as the challenges posed by inconsistent enforcement and lack of transparency on platforms. Participants also explored platform community guidelines and discussed how antisemitic content is assessed and moderated in practice.

A central component of the training focused on the structural challenges behind the underreporting of online antisemitism, including ineffective reporting mechanisms, limited accountability, and the absence of feedback loops for users. Against this backdrop, Barak-Cheney and Holler introduced the HO:PE tool as a practical response to these gaps, demonstrating how it enables users to report antisemitic content through a centralized platform, including via browser extension and mobile applications.

Through case studies and interactive discussions, participants worked through real examples of online antisemitism, assessing how content might be categorized, whether it would be removed, and how context influences moderation decisions.

The training emphasized not only technical tools but also community empowerment, equipping participants with the knowledge and confidence to engage with platforms, support victims, and contribute to a more coordinated and informed response to online antisemitism.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.