Sacha Baron Cohen, the accomplished film actor and director, challenged Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to be better in monitoring and regulating what the social platform deems acceptable, citing a rise in anti-Semitism in the wake of recent battles between Hamas and Israel.
Cohen referenced an Anti-Defamation League report that found a rise in sympathy with Adolf Hitler growing on Twitter.
Over the past few weeks, the Palestinian militant group Hamas targeted Jerusalem in rocket attacks, an offensive that was met with Israel’s airstrikes.
A cease-fire between Israel and Hamas went into effect early Friday. The 11-day war left more than 250 dead, the Associated Press reported.
“The surge in antisemitism on the streets is fueled by antisemitism on social media,” Cohen tweeted, providing a link to a report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) containing eye-opening details. “Why do you allow #HitlerWasRight ?! Those who celebrate the Holocaust aim to perpetuate another.”
Fellow actor Mark Ruffalo tweeted support for Cohen’s stance, writing: “you (Dorsey) had the wisdom to block Trump from Twitter for inciting violence and disseminating disinformation. Please use that same wisdom to stop antisemitism and anti- Muslim propaganda on this platform today.”
The ADL report, released Friday, included a rise in anti-Semitic actions online and offline and mentioned Twitter along with Facebook, TikTok and Instagram as platforms allowing messages such as “explicit praise” for Hitler.
“As the violence between Israel and Hamas continues to escalate, we are witnessing a dangerous and drastic surge in anti-Jewish hate right here at home,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement Friday.
The ADL analysis highlighted more than 17,000 tweets posted to Twitter between May 7-14, around when the violence began referenced “Hitler was right” and similar phrases.
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