Over 10M instances of violent content on social media in Hebrew in 2023: Israeli-based NGO

By Anadolu staff

JERUSALEM (AA) – An Israeli-based nonprofit has documented over 10 million instances of violent content on social media in the Hebrew language in 2023, including a huge spike since Oct. 7, when Israel’s offensive on Gaza began.

In a new report, the Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media said it developed “an AI-based language model that monitors hate speech and violence in Hebrew against Palestinians in real time."

According to the center, over 10 million instances of violent content in Hebrew were detected in 2023 across three major social media platforms.

It cited X, formerly Twitter, as having three-quarters of the Hebrew violent content throughout 2023.

The center said an unprecedented increase in hate speech and incitement in the Hebrew language directed against Palestinians was recorded since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on Oct. 7.

This hate speech and incitement included “perpetuating violence, justifying collective punishment, and exacerbating the dehumanization of the Palestinian people," it added.

According to the center, the average of hateful/violent posts or comments on social media in Hebrew has risen to around 23 per minute since Oct. 7.

It called for developing “effective Hebrew language classifiers to combat the surge in hate speech and incitement against Palestinians online, alongside a commitment to fighting hate speech and incitement in all languages to safeguard users globally."

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip following an Oct. 7 Hamas attack, killing nearly 30,000 people amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara