How to combat online hate and anti-Semitism

By Sheilah Kast,

Melissa Gerr

Published December 15, 2022 at 10:40 AM EST

Photo: Associated Press, Gregory Bull, File

Words are powerful. And can be dangerous. No where is that more evident than on social media platforms where hateful speech is spewed -- and sometimes spreads at alarming speed. Can it be silenced? If so, how?

We’re joined by Imran Ahmed, founder and CEO of the ‘Center for Countering Digital Hate.’ The nonprofit, based in the U.K. and Washington, DC, works to quell hate and disinformation by going after the online platforms that enable its global spread.

Then we hear from Baltimore Jewish Council executive director Howard Libit about ‘Shine A Light,’ a national effort to dispel and counter anti-Semitic language and behavior that has been on the rise.

Links: Center for Countering Digital Hate, CCDH Blog and Research, Shine A Light, JCC Illumination Celebration: FireLight on 12/18 at 5pm.

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Sheilah Kast

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am.

See stories by Sheilah Kast

Melissa Gerr

Melissa Gerr is a Senior Producer for On the Record. She started in public media at Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul, Minn., where she is from, and then worked as a field producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland. She made the jump to audio-lover in Baltimore as a digital media editor at Mid-Atlantic Media and Laureate Education, Inc. and as a field producer for "Out of the Blocks." Her beat is typically the off-beat with an emphasis on science, culture and things that make you say, 'Wait, what?'

See stories by Melissa Gerr