editorials
The Call of 5783
A year ago in our new year message, we
lamented the continuing restrictions of
the pandemic, discussed domestic challenges,
focused upon economic concerns, hoped for better
education results for our kids and marveled at the
creativity and innovation of our synagogues and
communal institutions. We looked forward to a
possible full return to “normal” in the new year.

Unfortunately, 5782 did not live up to those
expectations. The relief many of us felt from a
lessening of the danger of the virus did not usher
in a return to normal.

Instead, COVID continues to haunt us, we feel
unease and frustration in multiple trouble spots
around the world, we are uncertain about our
economy and we are all victims of a deepening
domestic political divide. We are divided over
abortion. We are divided over guns. We are
divided over climate change and the future of our
environment. We are divided over voting rights.

We are divided over the legitimacy of the 2020
presidential election results. And there is more.

Many of us are concerned about the future of
our cherished republic.

Democracy is generally not a topic for new year
messages or High Holiday sermons — unless
it’s to extol the “American experiment” and the
genius of our founders. But this year is different.

In fact, one rabbi, Michael Holzman of Northern
Virginia Hebrew Congregation, recently called on
his colleagues to not just extol democracy, but to
preach it. There is something to that suggestion,
even if we would normally prefer that our rabbis
stay away from politics in their holiday sermons.

We are a little more than a month away from this
country’s midterm elections. State officeholders
at all levels of government will be elected and
control of both houses of Congress is very much
in play. There’s nothing new to that overall con-
struct. But this time around, the stakes seem a bit
higher, precisely because our country’s political
divide is so much more intense and pronounced
than in the past.

To be clear, we aren’t suggesting that our reli-
gious leaders endorse candidates or promote any
political partisanship. But they can help us appre-
ciate the importance of democracy and the cre-
ation of a society that we are all proud to be part
of. None of that detracts from the importance of
issues like communal safety, combating antisem-
itism, supporting Israel in its own buildup to con-
sequential elections, providing proper education
for our children and enhanced focus on caring for
our elderly and infirm.

But as we enter 5783 and look toward numer-
ous uncertainties in the coming year, we urge
focus upon the principles of democracy as a
guide to our political future.

As a Jewish community, we are beneficiaries
and transmitters of some of the world’s great-
est moral, ethical and historical treasures. As
Americans, we are tied to the inspiring history of
democracy and all of the good it can generate.

Let’s maximize all of those gifts in this new year.

May we all be sealed in the book of life. G’mar
chatimah tovah. JE
W e have seen this movie before: Public
hearings with the heads of social
media companies produce little or no change
to protect concerns like user privacy, when
doing so might interfere with corporate profits.

And when it comes to the balance between
free speech and hate speech, the social
media companies are, at worst, laissez-faire
and, at best, inconsistent and unreliable.

So it’s no surprise that at a recent hearing
on online antisemitism held by an interna-
tional group of lawmakers, which directed
questions at senior executives from Meta,
Twitter, YouTube and TikTok, one frustrated
lawmaker called the executives’ responses
to a series of questions regarding both the-
ory and practice in dealing with antisemitic
statements on their platforms, “platitudes
and window dressing.”
The hearing was organized by the Inter-
Parliamentary Task Force to Combat Online
Antisemitism, an international coalition of law-
makers formed in 2020. The group is co-chaired
by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and
Anthony Housefather, a Canadian member of
Parliament. According to reports, the tech giants came
remarkably unprepared. They knew they were
testifying before a panel looking into the growing
scourge of online antisemitism. Yet not a single
14 SEPTEMBER 29, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
social media executive was able to answer the
simple question of whether a potential, specific
antisemitic posting would be removed from that
executive’s platform. Nor could they give specific
answers to how to deal with platform algorithms
that amplify hateful content, including antisemi-
tism. When the executives were asked whether they
viewed anti-Zionism as inherently antisemitic,
or as hate speech in its own right, most of
them awkwardly dodged the question, although
Facebook’s Neil Potts did acknowledge that
attacks on Zionism are sometimes used as
a proxy for attacks on Jews.

When asked pointedly why Twitter doesn’t
have a policy against Holocaust denial, the best
Twitter’s Michelle Austin could say was that she
would “take that back” to the company.

An August 2021 report by the Center to
Counter Digital Hate found that the major
social media companies took no action
to remove a whopping 84% of antisemitic
posts. This is so even though social media
giants have promised to crack down on
antisemitic hate — something most believe
they are able to do through existing controls
designed to identify all forms of malignant
content. The obfuscation and evasion of the wit-
nesses left Wasserman Schultz frustrated. “I
think we’re all starting to see … why we’re eventu-
ally going to have to regulate the way this content
is handled as opposed to just leaving it to you, the
companies,” she said.

While it is not yet entirely clear whether social
media is unable or unwilling to protect users from
antisemitic speech, it is clear that more aggres-
sive protective steps are needed to stop the
poisonous flow of antisemitic sludge and vitriol.

But if the best social media giants can provide is
“platitudes and window dressing,” it may be time
for government to step in. The clock is ticking. JE
iStock / Getty Images Plus / Lobro78
Platitudes and Window Dressing