Delete the accounts of personalities convicted of anti-Semitic speech: this is one of the proposals made Wednesday by Israel to the web giants Facebook, Google, TikTok and Twitter in order to fight against anti-Semitism.
"Anti-Semitism in all its forms is omnipresent on deregulated social networks," warned Israeli Minister of the Diaspora Omer Yankelevich, during a meeting in Parliament attended by representatives of Twitter and Facebook.
His ministry and that of Strategic Affairs published Wednesday "the first report" to help social networks to "pursue a clearer and more aggressive policy against anti-Semitism."
This document proposes that social networks adopt the definition of anti-Semitism of the International Alliance for the Remembrance of the Holocaust (IHRA) which defines it as "a certain perception of Jews which may manifest itself in hatred towards them" and “targeting Jewish individuals, community institutions and places of worship”.
For example, the text of the definition of the IHRA underlines that "the refusal of the right to self-determination of the Jews", by affirming that the existence of the State of Israel is the fruit of a racist ”, is a form of anti-Semitism.
"Do not allow the demonization of the State of Israel"
The Israeli government's plan calls for the removal of all public profiles of those convicted of anti-Semitic speech.
“If a court has ruled that a person is anti-Semitic, there is no reason for social media to provide a platform for them to spread their hatred,” said Omer Yankelevich.
"This is not to limit legitimate criticism against Israel," the report said, but "not to allow hate speech against Jews or the demonization of the State of Israel."
The report also calls for the systematic reporting of anti-Semitic content, and specifically concerns certain tweets by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose country, Iran, is Israel's number one enemy.
"It is important to continue to take measures to make progress on these very important issues," said Jordana Cutler, a representative of Facebook in Israel, welcoming the ministerial report during the meeting in the Israeli Parliament broadcast on video and to which they also representatives of the American giants Google and Chinese TikTok participated.
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Asked about the question during the videoconference, Ronan Costello, in charge of strategy at Twitter, assured that "no foreign leader was exempt" from respecting the rules of publication and that the platform ensured compliance with its policy "in the event of violations ”.
"This is a sensitive subject," acknowledged Ronan Costello, saying his platform was "receptive to constructive comments from (its) partners".