Politicians from five countries launch task force to combat online antisemitism

A group of lawmakers from five countries have joined forces to launch an inter parliamentary task force to combat online antisemitism.

The task force includes legislators from the United Kingdom, United States, Israel, Australia and Canada, following the work of campaigns such as the #NoSafeSpaceForJewHate boycott in exposing online antisemitism.

Conservative MP Andrew Percy and Labour MP Alex Sobel have joined the task force, which aims to hold social media platforms to account though non-partisan policies protecting against hate speech. The task force highlighted Twiter, TikTok, Facebook and Google as companies that need to acknowledge their responsibility to root out antisemitism.

Alex Sobel, MP for Leeds North West, said “As a Jewish politician, the antisemitic hate that I have received has been wide and varied in nature. Overt slurs are easier to recognise and report, but antisemitism is often insidious and harder to root out.

“Antisemitic conspiracy theories are rife on social media, with many subscribers not realising the antisemitic roots and implications of QAnon and other right-wing conspiracy theories. By working together on this taskforce – across geographical and political boundaries – we can tackle the spread of misinformation and ensure that we have internationally recognised definitions of online hate, protecting all of its victims.”

A convert to Judaism, Andrew Percy, MP for Brigg and Goole, echoed Mr Sobel’s concerns: “In recent years we have seen a disturbing rise in antisemitic hate online. This worrying trend has been seen here in the UK and all across the globe. It is, therefore, important that we work together with allies across the world to tackle the rise in this vile bigotry.