Decoding Antisemitism: An AI-driven Study on Hate Speech and Imagery Online

The interdisciplinary research project "Decoding Antisemitism" aims to investigate antisemitism on the internet. Since summer 2020, this three-year pilot project has been based at the Centre for Research on Antisemitism (ZfA) at TU Berlin and is being carried out in cooperation with King's College London (KCL). The object of study is antisemitism in the comment sections of mainstream political media websites in Germany, France and the UK, as well as their social media profiles. Using a mixed methods approach, discursive trends in the three European countries and different verbal and visual forms of antisemitism are analysed qualitatively, quantitatively and with the help of AI. The interactive web presents itself as an object of study due to its central role in social discourse. By analysing the comments sections of media that belong to the politically moderate field, the research team is opening up a field that has received little attention so far - an urgent task, since the normalisation of derogatory and exclusionary rhetoric in such milieus poses an enormous danger. On the basis of extensive qualitative analyses, an overview of previously unknown manifestations and the actual extent of antisemitism in these European web communities will be gained. The results in turn offer the possibility of diverse counter-strategies.