Antisemitism on Social Media Platforms: Placing the Problem into Perspective

This chapter provides a survey of the existing quantitative research on antisemitism and social media. Through doing so, it argues that the sheer quantity of antisemitism on social media is much less than commonly perceived. In addition, the chapter argues that quantitative research often neglects counter-narratives calling out antisemitism, which are an important counterpoint to include in antisemitism research on social media. Then, the chapter discusses how specific components of platform design help explain why antisemitism is likely to surface on some plaftforms but not others. Through this theoretical lens, the chapter compares the design of major social media platforms to online forums. The comparison highlights why memes typically originate in online forums and then are pushed towards more public and mainstream social media platforms. Ultimately, the chapter argues that future research on antisemitism and social media should approach studying antisemitic content across online spaces, with specific attention to the effects of such content on users’ potential for radicalization.