Search

‘Hateful imagery’: Twitter locks out Jewish users for posting Star of David

According to a UK anti-Semitism watchdog group, Twitter deemed the traditional Jewish symbol to be “hateful imagery” and is locking accounts of those who post it.

By World Israel News Staff

The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism (CAA) announced on Monday that Twitter “has deemed the Star of David, a symbol of Judaism and Jewish pride, to be ‘hateful imagery,’ and is locking the accounts of users who display it.”

According to the CAA, several Twitter users contacted the UK-based watchdog organization in the past several days to complain that their accounts were locked, with the social media giant providing the following explanation: “We have determined that this account violated the Twitter Rules. Specifically for: Violating our rules against posting hateful imagery. You may not use hateful images or symbols in your profile image or profile header. As a result, we have locked your account.”

The CAA added that Twitter told users that deleting the “hateful imagery,” in this case the Star of David, would lead to reinstatement of their accounts.

CAA Director of Investigations and Enforcement Stephen Silverman commented, “It is deplorable enough that Twitter consistently fails to act against anti-Semitism on its platform, but now it is taking action against Jews for the simple crime of showing pride in their identity by displaying a Star of David. It never fails to astound just how low Twitter is prepared to go.”

Among the the Stars of David of locked accounts were renderings of blue and white stars, in addition to yellow stars reminiscent of the badges Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis.

Silverman continued, “So often social media companies claim that they lack the resources to tackle hate on their platforms, but Twitter has put the lie to that claim by demonstrating that it does have the resources, but chooses to target the benign symbol of a victimized minority instead of the countless racists who use its platform with impunity.”

The CAA statement also claimed that Twitter earlier this year was “forced to apologize for permitting advertisements to be micro-targeted at neo-Nazis and other bigots.”

Silverman concluded, “Twitter must immediately restore these accounts, apologize to the owners, and pledge finally to take robust action against the anti-Semites whom it has enabled for so long.”