Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The internet brings with it many gifts, and we hope in the grand battle of ideas that the truth will out. Unfortunately, the interweb also amplifies the voices of hatred as well. While the sites of outright Nazis themselves are generally still marginal, and the al-Manars and al-Jazeeras are recognizable by their brands as often being too hot to touch, that doesn't mean the same ideas aren't worming their way into the mainstream through other channels. Andre Oboler has an important piece looking at the problem: Online Antisemitism 2.0. "Social Antisemitism" on the "Social Web":
- Around 2004, changes in technology created Web 2.0.[1] As technology adapted, so did online antisemitism. With the new "social web" came a new "social antisemitism." This Antisemitism 2.0 is the use of online social networking and content collaboration to share demonization, conspiracy theories, Holocaust denial, and classical antisemitic motifs with a view to creating social acceptability for such content.
- This phenomenon is spreading antisemitism and acceptability of antisemitism in new and increasingly effective ways. Social pressures are key to understanding Antisemitism 2.0, which is a combination of the technology and the emerging social environment.
- The main threat posed by Web 2.0 to the Jewish people and their supporters is the creation of a culture where antisemitism has social acceptability, particularly among young people, resulting in the lowering of resistance and the establishment of hate networks.
- To challenge Antisemitism 2.0, the Jewish community must as a strategy begin to engage online as an online community made up of individuals and organizations. The community has the talent to combat antisemitism online, but only if it is recognized, trained, funded, and given a shared sense of ownership in the fight against this newest manifestation of antisemitism.
The rest is here. [h/t: Richard Landes]
