Abstract: Today, in the age of the internet, during recent epidemics such as H1N1, Ebola and Covid-19, it is striking to see how old accusatory scripts are circulated and perpetuated via social media, which serve as new channels for discrimination and blame directed at traditional figures who have been scapegoated at different moments in the history of European epidemics. The article shows how the laundering of information into a cliquey network takes empirical shape during a health crisis. We do so by focusing on VKontakte, a Russian social network similar to Facebook and the 15th largest website in the world in terms of traffic. Using an ethnographic approach to social media, we show how borderline information from an open and easily accessible website is reappropriated, made explicit, and transformed into legally prohibited hate content. It also documents the ability of conspiracy theorists to use the full range of discourse production channels in a country-in this case France-that has very strict laws on hate speech, including that published on social networks. These laws are circumvented by anti-Semitic communities that spread false information in marginal, open and legal networks, thus avoiding legal proceedings.
Abstract: To cope with the covid-19 pandemic, people not only relied on state measures and scientific knowledge, but also drew on the resources of religion. They may also have embraced conspiracy theories that sometimes led them to engage in protest behavior. Against this background, we address the following research question: “How are people's religiosity and spirituality related to their belief in covid-19 conspiracy theories in Germany?” We answer this question by conducting a theory-led empirical analysis. We apply quantitative methods based on primary data from a (non-representative) online survey that we carried out with 2,373 respondents in Germany between July 2020 and January 2021. The results show that belief in covid-19 conspiracy theories is positively correlated with the image of a punitive God, with exclusivist beliefs, and with private prayer—and negatively correlated with attendance at religious services. Moreover, Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, and Jews have a lower affinity for conspiracy theories than not religiously affiliated people, while the opposite is true for Evangelicals.
Abstract: In this report, we have studied different facets of antisemitism on non-password protected social media outlets with user-generated content. Our results show that antisemitic content exists on all social media platforms. However, the amount of antisemitic content seems to vary with the degree of moderation on each platform. Since 2017, discussions about the ZOG conspiracy narrative have increased, while the Covid-19 pandemic has given rise to new antisemitic conspiracy theories. Conspiracy narratives are closely related to antisemitic stereotypes, which were found in 25% of posts mentioning Jews or Jewishness. The most common stereotypes being that Jews are powerful, deceptive, and manipulative. In our study, almost 35% of all posts mentioning Jews or Jewishness expressed negativity toward Jews. These posts were found mainly on minimally moderated platforms. Jews are also one of the groups that are targeted by toxic language online. Over 4,000 occurrences of explicit Holocaust denial terminology were found during a three-month period. National legislation is difficult to apply to the global internet. A joint effort by governments and platform companies is important to develop techniques that keeps antisemitic content from the internet, while education is necessary to prevent antisemitism before it goes online
Abstract: Prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, anti-Semitism (in both public discourse and policies and as manifested in the infrequency of anti-Semitic incidents) was at a historical low, and simultaneously Russia’s relationship with Israel was on the rise. Officially, the Kremlin denounced xenophobia and made a crucial distinction between the isolationist ethnic nationalism that it condemned and the broader Russian imperial nationalism that has become Putinism’s dominant framework, especially after 2014. T he war against Ukraine, which Russia conceptualises as the continuation of its “struggle against the Nazis,” is waged in the actual space where the Holocaust took place, and also, semantically, in the historical “bloodlands,” following Timothy Snyder’s term, that intersect with and evoke issues of Jewishness and Anti-Semitism, reactivating all manner of revisionist discourses about war-time collaboration, the Holocaust, and Ukrainian Jewish history. The Russian regime and its propagandists spin various conspiratorial narratives about the war and Ukraine’s leadership that both reactivate dormant Soviet-era prejudices and create new ones (e.g., “sects,” “global Satanism,” “Western elites,” “liberals as the fifth column,” etc.) that are linked to Jewishness. Russian anti-Semitism is an inherently dynamic phenomenon that is shaped by and is included in the escalation in the Middle East, Russia’s war against Ukraine, and Russia’s hostile relations with the “collective West” and as such should be considered within international, domestic, and historical contexts.
Abstract: Zwei Jahre nach dem ersten Lockdown zur Eindämmung der Coronapandemie, und immer noch mittendrin, erscheint unsere neue Handreichung genau zum Thema. Wir wollten erfahren, wie es Jugendlichen in der Pandemie ergeht, die ohnehin Rassismus und Antisemitismus ausgesetzt sind. Gleich zu Beginn der Pandemie wurden asiatisch gelesene Menschen angefeindet, weil sie für die Verbreitung des Virus verantwortlich gemacht wurden, auch italienische Restaurants wurden angegriffen, als die Nachrichten über die starke Verbreitung von Covid 19 hier ankamen. Viele Jugendliche, die sich zunächst genauso wie die deutsch gelesenen Jugendlichen nicht an Abstandsregeln hielten, wurden nicht wie diese mehr oder weniger freundlich an die neuen Regeln erinnert, sondern rigoros kontrolliert. Bald schon kursierten erste Verschwörungserzählungen darüber, dass das Virus von Juden erfunden worden sei, um den Menschen zu schaden.
In den Interviews mit Fachkräften aus der (Offenen) Jugendarbeit werden wichtige Einsichten und Erkenntnisse ausgesprochen, die die Tiefe der diskriminierenden Strukturen aufzeigen und gute Einblicke in die Lebenswelten Berliner Jugendlicher geben. Die Interviews stehen für die Vielfalt Berliner Jugendarbeit und zeigen die große Bedeutung dieses oft vernachlässigten Arbeitsfeldes auf!
Abstract: Scapegoating and Conspiracy Theories during COVID-19 Antisemitism has unfortunately persisted throughout history, and the COVID-19 pandemic has not been an exception to this troubling trend. The conditions created by the pandemic, such as fear, uncertainty, and anxiety, have fueled the emergence and spread of conspiracy theories targeting various groups, including Jewish communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a plethora of baseless beliefs and conspiracy theories about its causes, which have contributed to the rise of antisemitism during this time. Pandemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic, inherently create anxiety and uncertainty among populations. This change has affected many areas, both political and social. Conspiracy theories that base the cause of the emergence of COVID-19 on Jewish identity are an essential factor for this study. Tendencies toward antisemitism and scapegoating have supported these conspiracy theories. In this study, how antisemitism manifested itself in media and online discourse during COVID-19 and how Jewish identity is affected by the process.
