Online and Offline Harms: The Connection

Policy Briefing: Online and Offline Harms: The Connection

For over a decade, the Antisemitism Policy Trust has been working to tackle anti-Jewish hatred online. During this period, the number of antisemitic incidents has risen dramatically. One key feature of that rise has been the number of online antisemitic incidents reported to the Community Security Trust , with 344 such incidents reported in the first six months of 2020, constituting the highest number ever recorded. Online antisemitism ranges from overt racist anti-Jewish material to the often legal, but equally harmful, antisemitic stereotypes. Our report on Big Data revealed that negative stereotypes about Jews found to be searched on Google included the smears “Jews are evil”, “why are Jews so greedy” and “Jews are racist”. Violent searches about Jews on Google are also numerous, such as “kill Jews” and “Jews must die”.