July 2, 2024 — New York, NY
American Jewish Committee (AJC) firmly believes that social media companies have a legal right and moral obligation to exclude hateful speech from their platforms. AJC welcomes yesterday’s Supreme Court decision in the two NetChoice cases examining this right. In an essential victory not only for the freedom of speech of the platforms but also for simple decency, a clear majority of the Court specifically affirmed the right of social media platforms, such as YouTube and Facebook, to exclude content that violates their community standards or guidelines, including violative antisemitic speech. AJC has and will continue to work with platforms to this end and will redouble its efforts in light of this court decision.
AJC’s State of Antisemitism in America 2023 Report found that American Jews experience antisemitism the most online and on social media. Sixty-two percent of American Jews surveyed reported seeing or hearing antisemitism online or on social media in the past 12 months, including 6% who said this happened once, and 56% who said it happened more than once. Among all Jewish adults who experienced antisemitic content online at least once in the past 12 months, 51% say they experienced antisemitism on Facebook, 47% say they experienced it on X (formerly known as Twitter), 27% on Instagram, 24% on YouTube, and 18% on TikTok. Another one in ten (11%) say they experienced antisemitism via online gaming platforms.
In December, AJC filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in Moody v. NetChoice, a case that involves challenges to Florida and Texas statutes that limited the right of social media platforms to exclude posts that violated their rules of service. The lower federal courts are divided on the constitutionality of such statutes.
AJC is the global advocacy organization for the Jewish people. With headquarters in New York, 25 regional offices across the United States, 15 overseas posts, as well as partnerships with 38 Jewish community organizations worldwide, AJC’s mission is to enhance the well-being of the Jewish people and Israel and to advance human rights and democratic values in the United States and around the world. For more, please visit www.ajc.org.
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