Racism Index shows 15-fold increase in online hate speech directed at Palestinians and Arabs
The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media (7amleh) released the Index of Racism and Incitement on the internet report which examines the interplay between the use of labels and words that are racist against Arabs and Palestinians. The report found an overwhelming 15-fold upsurge in violent online speech against Palestinians and Arabs in May 2021, compared to the same time in 2020, which could be attributed to the Israeli recent aggression. Out of the 1,090,000 online conversations observed, the index highlighted 183,000 conversations that encompassed racism, insults or incitement against Arabs including 29% incited violence, 31% insults against Arabs and Palestinians, and 40% racist conversations against Palestinians and Arabs. According to the report, Twitter is the most ‘violent’ platform vis-à-vis speech with approximately 85% of such content.
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