No to Antisemitic Hate Speech Online

RESPOND!

“RESPOND! No to Antisemitic Hate Speech Online!” is a four-year joint project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with 1.3 million Euros in support. The project is led by the Jewish-American Touro University Berlin, which works closely with Hochschule Bielefeld – University of Applied Sciences and Arts, and the University of Potsdam, as well as with the Jewish Community of Berlin, the largest Jewish community in Germany.

The collaborative project RESPOND!

About RESPOND!

The collaborative project, RESPOND!, aims to help young people develop a dissenting voice to combat antisemitic hate speech in the German social media. In four studies, the project aims to develop and evaluate media competence training for young media users, aged 18-30, to recognize and combat traditional and modern forms of antisemitic hate speech on social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube. To this end, we will analyze the manifestations of antisemitic discourse in the social media, as well as the vulnerabilities and competencies of young people in dealing with it. Based on this analysis, we will develop, implement, and evaluate the RESPOND! Media Competence Training to help young people in developing a media-competent way of dealing with antisemitic hate speech online. Furthermore, in the final year of the project, we will multiply the RESPOND! Media Competence Training further with teachers from local schools in Berlin, Potsdam, and Bielefeld through a train-the-trainer program.

Help young people develop a dissenting voice to combat antisemitic hate speech in the German social media

Studies within RESPOND!

Project Goals

The collaborative project, RESPOND!, pursues the goal of developing and disseminating a sustainable counter-voice of young people to combat antisemitic hate speech on social media in Germany. RESPOND! aims to enable young addressees and witnesses of antisemitic hate speech to recognize its discursive tactics on social media, even in their modern and more subtle manifestations, and to respond to them in a media-competent manner. These goals will be addressed by four separate, but interconnected studies:

Study 1

An investigation of the manifestations of antisemitic hate speech in social media channels used by young people in Germany. The study relies on media diaries created by young social media users of diverse backgrounds to explore the different forms of antisemitic discourse, both overt and implicit, currently at large on social media in Germany.

Study 2

Based on forms of antisemitic discourse uncovered in Study 1, the present study explores young people’s media competence levels in dealing with antisemitic content online. Thus, through focus group interviews with young people active on social media, Study 2 aims to learn about the kinds of antisemitic hate speech content with which they feel confident in dealing. More importantly, the interviews are also to help shed light on which manifestations of antisemitic stereotypes and prejudices young people find more difficult to address in their social media interactions.

Study 3

The combined insights provided by Studies 1 and 2 lay the foundation for the creation of RESPOND!’s signature Media Competence Training. Study 3 will focus on the development, implementation, and evaluation of the Training focused on helping young people address and combat antisemitic hate speech online. Through a train-the-trainer procedure, the training will also be multiplied on further 600 young RESPOND!ers against antisemitic hate speech on social media.

Study 4

The final study within RESPOND! brings our signature Media Competence Training targeting antisemitic hate speech to local schools in the Berlin, Potsdam, and Bielefeld area. In consequence, 600 teachers will be sensitized to the strengths and vulnerabilities of young social media users in Germany in dealing with antisemitic discourse online.