Today, the Lantos Foundation and the Middle East Media Institute (MEMRI) published a report entitled The Hater Next Door: Online Incitement Against Minorities in America. This truly horrifying report examines online hatred and incitement in the United States between November 2018 and February 2019 against minority communities including Jews, People of Color, LGBTQ and others.
The report exposes the vicious reality of online hatred that is thriving within our own borders, fueled by neo-Nazis, white supremacists, racists and fascists that are not only fellow Americans, but are very often members of our own communities. Unlike generations past, these haters next door can easily hide behind fringe websites and online personas while indulging their most vile impulses with the miracle of the modern Internet. This exponential threat is multiplied when the means for further hate and incitement rests neatly at one’s fingertips via their phone or laptop.
“This report shines a very bright light on the hatred that lurks right in own backyard. As a nation, we must confront and expose this evil in order to prevent future tragedies; so many recent mass tragedies, like the mosques in New Zealand or the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, start online well before any shots are taken. By exposing these Haters Next Door, we seek to empower digital first-responders to take timely action to save lives,” said Lantos Foundation President, Katrina Lantos Swett. “We encourage leaders in the media, policy, and technology spaces to join us in recognizing, exposing, and confronting these age old evils in their modern day forms.”
The report can be found at www.thehaternextdoor.com.