Social Media Trolls Foment Racial Tensions By Impersonating Rabbis, Companies Slow To React

0
FILE - This April 26, 2017, file photo shows the Twitter app on a mobile phone in Philadelphia. Twitter will now prohibit hate speech that targets religious groups using dehumanizing language. AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

NEW YORK(VINnews) — The recent wave of anti-Semitic attacks has led to another worrying phenomenon, as a bunch of trolls on Twitter are attempting to use the attacks to foment racial tensions by assuming rabbinic identities and making racist statements, according to an NBC New York report. The social media company is slow to react to these trolls and in many cases the hatred continues to spread unchecked until it is pointed out directly to Twitter.

Join our WhatsApp group

Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email


Days after Grafton Thomas was arrested for the Hanukkah attack at Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg’s home in Monsey, a Twitter account calling itself “David Rothstein” wrote, that the “Monsey stabbing was perpetrated by a black supremacist.” He followed that up with a picture of a black man missing multiple teeth and the N-word. The picture appended to the account was that of Israeli Chief Rabbi David Lau but for some reason Twitter ignored both the obvious troll and the hateful incitement accompanying it.

In December, following a fatal mass shooting at a Jersey City kosher supermarket, another troll account called Rabbi Hezekiah of Atlanta suddenly appeared, tweeting that “Jewish landlords should not rent to colored people,” and “The problem Jews all over the world are facing is: the Black Man.” A link under the profile picture led to Atlanta’s Congregation Beth Shalom whose mild-mannered leader, Rabbi Mark Zimmerman, preaches tolerance and eschews racism.

“Who we are and our views are completely antithetical to the kind of hate that’s being spread on that Twitter feed,” Zimmerman said.

Despite the clear-cut racism in these and other Twitter feeds, the company’s security failed to catch the accounts until they were alerted to them

“There’s no accountability from the social media companies to look at what’s going on,” said Eric Feinberg, a Vice President at the Coalition for a Safer Web. “These companies don’t care. Why should they care? Because the laws protect them, advertisers keep spending money, and the share prices keep going up.”

Feinberg, who was the first to uncover the fake “Rabbi Hezekiah” account, says he has patented technology that continuously combs social media feeds for hateful content. He also sent the I-Team a series of Facebook memes labeling Hasidic people as “Fake Jews” and “jewish devils.” Feinberg seeks to sell his technology to Twitter and Facebook, but the companies are still trying to improve their own artificial intelligence to intercept hate speech.

“While even one post is too many, we’ve made major improvements on this,” a Facebook spokesperson claimed. “We’ve removed 7 million pieces of hate speech in the third quarter of 2019, 80% of which we found before someone reported it – an increase from 18 months earlier when we removed 1.6 million posts, 24% of which we found before some reported it to us.”

A similar email from Twitter’s corporate spokesperson said that “Twitter Rules strongly prohibit users from promoting violence against, threatening or harassing people on the basis of race, ethnicity or other protected groups. There’s always room for improvement, but we remain deeply committed to improving the health of the conversation on the service, and prioritizing the safety of our users.”

Within 24 hours of the I-Team inquiring about the “Rabbi Hezekiah” and “David Rothstein” accounts, Twitter suspended them, citing violations of the company’s rules. After the I-Team notified Facebook about four posts attacking Hasidic Jewish people, the company removed two of the posts.

Yet Rabbi Zimmerman remained unimpressed and implored the social media companies to show more alacrity in blocking such incitement, citing the real risks involved.

“Does this pose a security risk? Absolutely,” Zimmerman said. “You just need one person suffering from mental illness or somebody who already has that hate in their heart to see this site and see our url and say ah, these are the people responsible and hold those views.”

The attorney for Grafton Thomas, the accused Hanukkah slasher, claims that he does suffer from mental illness. He has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and federal hate crime charges. The extent to which Thomas accessed social media is unclear. Investigators have linked several anti-Semitic social media posts to the shooter who opened fire on a Jersey City kosher supermarket.


Listen to the VINnews podcast on:

iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Podbean | Amazon

Follow VINnews for Breaking News Updates


Connect with VINnews

Join our WhatsApp group