Research & Analysis

August 13, 2020 Extremists are constantly adapting and finding creative ways to reach new audiences – and new ways to evade content moderators. Their latest efforts are evident on TikTok, the Chinese social media app that allows users to create and share short videos.  In less than four years, TikTok has racked up more than 800 million users, and its popularity is fast approaching that of social media giants like Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram Each TikTok video has the…

July 15, 2020 Antisemitism has stained the speeches and statements of Nation of Islam (NOI) leader Louis Farrakhan for decades. This past July 4 was no different, as Farrakhan delivered an address replete with antisemitic lies and stereotypes, and calls for his listeners to speak out against Jews. His speech reverberated in the ensuing days among celebrities and garnered over a million views on social media. Louis Farrakhan may be the most popular antisemite in America, as his messages…

June 22, 2020 Facebook has been claiming that it is effectively addressing hate on its platforms. ADL and others, however, have continued to expose egregious examples of online hate, misinformation and extremism across the company’s products, particularly on Facebook and Instagram. Whether or not these posts technically violate Facebook’s complicated guidelines around hate speech, as a result of the platform’s casual placement of ads, paid advertisements run a risk of being…

June 16, 2020 On June 15, 2020, a federal grand jury indicted Matthew Patrick Slatzer of Canton, Ohio, on weapons charges. Slatzer, a known neo-Nazi, was arrested in February after bringing a gun into a Canton bar, and was charged with possession of a firearm by a person with a domestic violence conviction. The investigation began after Slatzer -- who, according to police reports, was wearing a sword and hatchet on his belt -- entered a business in Stow, Ohio, on May 3, 2020. He allegedly…

June 03, 2020 A medida que continúan las protestas — en gran parte pacíficas, pero cada vez más marcadas por enfrentamientos violentos, saqueos y vandalismo — en respuesta al asesinato de George Floyd por la policía en Minneapolis, los expertos de derecha y un grupo ideológicamente diverso de teóricos de la conspiración han afirmado que George Soros ha fomentado el caos. El lenguaje agresivo contra Soros se ha disparado en los…

June 02, 2020 As protests – still largely peaceful, but increasingly marked by violent confrontations, looting and vandalism -- continue in response to the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, right-wing pundits and an ideologically diverse crew of conspiracy theorists have alleged that George Soros has played a role in fomenting the chaos. Aggressive language towards Soros has exploded on social media sites like Twitter, where a sample assessment showed that negative…

May 22, 2020 On May 1, 2020, when boogaloo activists organized a protest against coronavirus public safety measures in Raleigh, North Carolina, many attendees carried firearms in defiance of state laws prohibiting guns at public demonstrations. It was a scene played out across the country in recent weeks, as boogalooers are energized by resistance to lockdown restrictions, which they view as tyrannical government overreach. Boogaloo adherents have shown up at numerous lockdown protests, waving…

May 22, 2020 At nationwide rallies against policies aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19, highly visible protesters are comparing government officials to Nazis and their policies to the Nazi persecution of Jews during World War II. The tactic of employing Nazi- and Holocaust-related analogies is not new -- it has been used by protesters and pundits for decades. But these analogies, laden as they are with allusions to unqualified evil, tyranny and persecution, continue to provoke outrage…

May 21, 2020 As quickly as the coronavirus spread across the world, white supremacist merchandising companies seized the opportunity to profit from it. Companies in the United States and Europe are marketing coronavirus-related wares from clothing to facemasks to stickers, many adorned with white supremacist related symbols or codes. The German-based white supremacist merchandising company Druck18 (the 18 in this case likely stands for the numeric reference to the letters “A”…

May 15, 2020 THE WEEK'S BIG 3 Antisemitic incidents in the U.S. hit an all-time high in 2019, according to data released this week by ADL. Two Queens men are under arrest for allegedly trying to buy high-power weapons, amid ongoing talk by one about targeting Jews -- including praising last year's Hanukkah attack in Monsey. And the Never Again Education Act, which would help provide federal funding to expand Holocaust education in the US, passed the Senate with bipartisan support. Read…

May 08, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 Antisemitic signs and imagery are seen at anti-quarantine rallies across the country, including in Chicago, where a protester held up a sign with a Nazi slogan that appeared on the gates of Auschwitz. A new report outlines the failures of Steam to adequately address the prevalence of extremists and neo-Nazis on the gaming platform. And in California, a man was seen donning a Ku Klux Klan hood as he shopped for groceries. Read on for more on these…

May 04, 2020 On March 24, 2020, a white supremacist interrupted a webinar about antisemitism hosted by a Massachusetts Jewish student group by pulling his shirt collar down to reveal a swastika tattoo on his chest. A day later, a similar incident occurred in California when someone disrupted an online class hosted by a JCC (Jewish Community Center); the perpetrator launched into a minutes-long, profanity-laced, antisemitic rant and removed his shirt to display a swastika tattoo on his chest…

April 24, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3A series of anti-quarantine rallies took place across the country this week, several of which were sponsored in whole or part by identified extremists and featured antisemitic content. A new ADL survey released on Holocaust Remembrance Day found that more than half of America’s Jews have either experienced or witnessed an antisemitic incident over the past five years. And Israel’s year-long political stalemate has come to an end, with the…

April 23, 2020 “Where’s the fighting spirit?” an angry Chuck Baldwin asked his assembled “Liberty Fellowship” congregation in Kalispell, Montana, in late March 2020. “Where’s the spirit of resistance…able to discern whenever the forces of tyranny would usurp our constitutional liberties?”  People needed to understand, he said, “the importance that we have as a church to resist the forces of evil.” The purported evil…

April 20, 2020 Americans’ response to the coronavirus pandemic now includes a spate of nationwide rallies decrying stay-at-home orders and calling for “reopening” the economy. While many of the protests calling for the reopening of the economy and the lifting of state-issued quarantine mandates have been organized by more mainstream conservative organizations, a number have been sponsored in whole or part by identified extremists and a range of rally participants have carried…

April 03, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 Internet trolls, including some white supremacists, are increasingly taking part in “Zoombombing” – hijacking meetings on the popular video communication app and posting inappropriate content, as well as white supremacist and antisemitic messages. An office for Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in Florida was vandalized over the weekend with swastikas. Antisemitic pastor and broadcaster Rick Wiles said that the COVID-19…

March 26, 2020 As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, white supremacists have increased their efforts to promulgate conspiracy theories blaming the coronavirus on Jews, Asians, and immigrants, and expressing their hope that the virus will target minority groups. The vast majority of this coronavirus-related on-the-ground activity has consisted of posting offensive propaganda fliers and holding demonstrations. In one case, however, a white supremacist was shot and killed by the FBI…