Each time there is a breakthrough in media technology, it allows the spread of disinformation in a way that's highly contagious. During transitions to new technology, people and groups attempting to seize power can act quickly to capitalize on media consumers' technological naiveté. By propagating disinformation and appealing to felt grievances, conspiracy theorists create the impression that they have important information being kept from the public. Martin Luther realized the potential of printing technology for amplifying his brand of anti-Semitism. "Be on your guard against the Jews," he published in "On the Jews and Their Lies," referring to Jews as, among other things, a "brood of vipers," "thieves and robbers," "lazy rogues," and, when in synagogue, "a den of devils." In that book, his "sincere advice" was to "set fire" to Jews' synagogues and schools, "raze" and "destroy" their homes, forbid rabbis from teaching "on pain of loss of life and limb," abolish "safe-conduct on the highways" for Jews, and take "all cash and treasure of silver and gold" from them. Luther's anti-Semitism was especially admired by Adolf Hitler. Not only did he take Luther's advice, he put radio, the new media technology of that time, to brutal use against Jews. Nazi broadcasts included big band music, conspiracy theories about Jews as puppet-masters of World War I, charming stories of the German "volk" and descriptions of Jewish people as aliens and vermin. Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi's minister of propaganda, used the airwaves to convince listeners that Jews were "the enemy of the world, the annihilator of cultures, the parasite among nations, the son of chaos, the incarnation of evil, the ferment of decay, the formative demon of mankind's downfall." More than half a millennium after the invention of the printing press, we're undergoing another technological revolution in the dissemination of anti-Jewish disinformation. Speakers at the rally before the Capitol siege promulgated a notion disseminated on Twitter that George Soros is secretly controlling the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. A photo of a rioter wearing a "Camp Auschwitz" shirt circulated widely online. The shirt read "work brings freedom," a loose translation of "Arbeit Macht Frei," words that appeared at the gates of Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps. Reportedly, the back read, "staff." Within hours, online retailers offered similar items for sale. Last month, the NCRI reported that around the time of elections, transitions of power and social unrest, anti-Semitic memes and codewords spike. Soros figures prominently in various conspiracy theories disseminated on both the left and the right. And, NCRI noted, Russian trolls intentionally stir anti-Semitism on both sides "by stoking fears of secret Jewish control of not only Antifa but also white supremacist groups." Social media-driven anti-Semitism has unprecedented and instantaneous worldwide reach. Ideas can escalate from social media to real-world violence faster than their targets or law enforcement can react. Extensive NCRI analysis of anti-Semitism on social media found that the deadly attack on Jews at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018 was preceded on social media by a high volume of anti-Jewish, Soros-related memes. These memes promoted the conspiracy theory that migrant "caravans" from Central America were being engineered by Jews. The report notes that "minutes before committing the deadly attack on the Tree of Life Jewish synagogue," the Pittsburgh shooter posted that the Jewish group HIAS "likes to bring invaders in that kill our people." As with prior iterations of anti-Semitic disinformation, depictions of Jews as parasites, vermin, aliens, puppeteers and global conspirators appear now online. But unlike with earlier technology, these signals now disguise themselves as inside jokes and social justice jargon. https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/newest-vehicle-oldest-hatred-opinion/story?id=75542375
Each time there is a breakthrough in media technology, it allows the spread of disinformation in a way that's highly contagious. During transitions to new technology, people and groups attempting to seize power can act quickly to capitalize on media consumers' technological naiveté. By propagating disinformation and appealing to felt grievances, conspiracy theorists create the impression that they have important information being kept from the public.
Martin Luther realized the potential of printing technology for amplifying his brand of anti-Semitism. "Be on your guard against the Jews," he published in "On the Jews and Their Lies," referring to Jews as, among other things, a "brood of vipers," "thieves and robbers," "lazy rogues," and, when in synagogue, "a den of devils."
In that book, his "sincere advice" was to "set fire" to Jews' synagogues and schools, "raze" and "destroy" their homes, forbid rabbis from teaching "on pain of loss of life and limb," abolish "safe-conduct on the highways" for Jews, and take "all cash and treasure of silver and gold" from them.
Luther's anti-Semitism was especially admired by Adolf Hitler. Not only did he take Luther's advice, he put radio, the new media technology of that time, to brutal use against Jews. Nazi broadcasts included big band music, conspiracy theories about Jews as puppet-masters of World War I, charming stories of the German "volk" and descriptions of Jewish people as aliens and vermin.
Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi's minister of propaganda, used the airwaves to convince listeners that Jews were "the enemy of the world, the annihilator of cultures, the parasite among nations, the son of chaos, the incarnation of evil, the ferment of decay, the formative demon of mankind's downfall."
More than half a millennium after the invention of the printing press, we're undergoing another technological revolution in the dissemination of anti-Jewish disinformation. Speakers at the rally before the Capitol siege promulgated a notion disseminated on Twitter that George Soros is secretly controlling the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. A photo of a rioter wearing a "Camp Auschwitz" shirt circulated widely online. The shirt read "work brings freedom," a loose translation of "Arbeit Macht Frei," words that appeared at the gates of Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps. Reportedly, the back read, "staff." Within hours, online retailers offered similar items for sale.
Last month, the NCRI reported that around the time of elections, transitions of power and social unrest, anti-Semitic memes and codewords spike. Soros figures prominently in various conspiracy theories disseminated on both the left and the right. And, NCRI noted, Russian trolls intentionally stir anti-Semitism on both sides "by stoking fears of secret Jewish control of not only Antifa but also white supremacist groups."
Social media-driven anti-Semitism has unprecedented and instantaneous worldwide reach. Ideas can escalate from social media to real-world violence faster than their targets or law enforcement can react. Extensive NCRI analysis of anti-Semitism on social media found that the deadly attack on Jews at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018 was preceded on social media by a high volume of anti-Jewish, Soros-related memes. These memes promoted the conspiracy theory that migrant "caravans" from Central America were being engineered by Jews. The report notes that "minutes before committing the deadly attack on the Tree of Life Jewish synagogue," the Pittsburgh shooter posted that the Jewish group HIAS "likes to bring invaders in that kill our people."
As with prior iterations of anti-Semitic disinformation, depictions of Jews as parasites, vermin, aliens, puppeteers and global conspirators appear now online. But unlike with earlier technology, these signals now disguise themselves as inside jokes and social justice jargon.
https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/newest-vehicle-oldest-hatred-opinion/story?id=75542375
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