180 NGOs Urge Twitter to Adopt IHRA Antisemitism Definition to Address Rising Jew-Hatred on Social Media Platform

The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) was among the 180 nonprofit and civil rights organizations that signed a joint letter on Wednesday calling on Twitter CEO Elon Musk to address the disturbing pervasiveness of Jew-hatred on the social media platform by having the company adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism.

“Since its establishment, Twitter has become one of the world’s preeminent social media platforms for online discussions, where citizens, elected officials, and the media exercise their right to free expression and engage in healthy and productive conversations,” the letter said. “To maximize the probability that the future is good, the world needs an online platform where everyone can participate. Unfortunately, this is not the case, as Jewish users are subject to
unrelenting harassment on Twitter.”

“In order to fight antisemitism properly, it must be defined,” it noted. “Therefore, we call on you to update Twitter’s anti-hate policies by adopting the globally-recognized IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism as a guiding tool to stymie the spread of Jew-hatred.”

The letter included an appendix with a data sample of more than 1,000 recent antisemitic tweets to highlight the extent of the problem.

The full letter can be read here.

For more information on the campaign, please visit: adoptihra.org/twitterletter

The IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism says, “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

The definition’s accompanying list of examples details 11 specific discriminatory behaviors targeting Jews and the State of Israel.

According to a study by CAM and the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University, nearly 1,000 entities around the world — including international organizations, governing bodies, NGOs, universities, athletic clubs, and corporations, among other groups — have adopted the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism since 2016.