Ex-ADL Chief Foxman: Technology Has Created Superhighway for Hate Speech

Technology has created a “superhighway” for hate speech, says Abraham Foxman, the former director of the Anti-Defamation League.

It “has changed antisemitism,” he said at the Global Forum on Antisemitism in Jerusalem on Saturday.

The internet has “destroyed civility. And to a large extent civility is a protective blanket for minorities. But if you remove civility you take away a level of protection. So the internet is a major challenge.”

Sri Lanka and Germany earlier this year took steps to curb hate speech on the internet.

Sri Lanka banned Facebook’s social media and messaging services after the country said the social media giant had not done enough to filter content, spurring deadly sectarian violence as a result. And Germany started enforcing a law that demands social media sites quickly remove hate speech, illegal material and fake news.

“I remember ten years ago I went to Palo Alto and said to the geniuses, ‘Thanks, look what you’ve created. I’m not blaming you. But the unintended consequences of your genius have created a superhighway for bigotry and antisemitism,’” said Foxman. “And their answer was simply, ‘algorithms, algorithms.’ And ten years later, I think they’re beginning to understand their responsibility. They’re starting to take responsibility. Because this is still the newest, latest threat to civility. Communicating in nanoseconds and it’s like a tsunami.”