Social media ‘bringing anti-Semitic ideas to new generation’

  • Young people are being introduced to anti-Semitic ideas on a ‘new generation of younger apps’.
  • An analysis by the campaign group Hope Not Hate and other organisations revealed the prevalence of antisemitic messages and memes on Instagram and TikTok.
  • This follows warnings that individuals drawn into conspiracy theories around COVID-19 are at risk of adopting anti-Semitic views.
  • Google searches in the UK for “New World Order”, a conspiracy theory rooted in anti-Semitic tropes, reached its highest level in March 2020.
  • The research warns that many antisemitic narratives, hashtags, memes, videos, and groups that emerged during the pandemic remain on some platforms.
  • Other platforms, like Telegram, have channels promoting the “New World Order” conspiracy theory, Holocaust denialism and white nationalist propaganda which grew by 90,000 followers since February 2021.
  • The full report can be found here.
  • Full story, here.

 

Facebook banning content that sexually harasses celebrities

  • Facebook has announced that it will ban “severe sexualizing content” targeting public figures as part of a new update to its bullying and harassment policies.
  • Facebook will remove any profiles, pages, groups, or events dedicated to sexualizing public figures, including celebrities, politicians, and content creators.
  • The update includes Facebook and Instagram posts and direct messages sent to individuals like government dissidents or victims of violent attacks.
  • Unwanted sexualized commentary and repetitive sexual harassment will also be removed.
  • The update will also include banning large, coordinated attacks on users that are at a “heightened risk of offline harm”.
  • Full story, here.

Pupil abuse in special education needs (SEN) school filmed on CCTV

  • An investigation has been launched into ‘organised abuse’ at a special education needs (SEN) school in London.
  • CCTV videos taken between 2014 and 2017 were discovered by staff containing footage of pupils being physically assaulted and neglected in the school’s seclusion rooms.
  • The “secure or seclusion rooms” are used in schools when it is thought a pupil needs to be isolated from a classroom during the school day.
  • The school, Whitefield School in Walthamstow, in north-east London has over 300 pupils aged between 3- and 19-years-old.
  • Many students at the school have severe or complex needs and are unable to communicate verbally.
  • The Metropolitan Police has now reviewed a significant amount of CCTV footage and the local authority has launched an investigation.
  • Full story, here.