Far-right hate groups and internet trolls have seized on tensions surrounding the Israel-Hamas war, and used advances in artificial intelligence to further fuel anti-Semitism in the United States.
The advancement of the conflict and the rapid development – and greater accessibility – of AI tools have allowed anti-Semitic groups to weaponize the technology, creating images and audio that are used to attack the Jewish community, according to experts who follow online extremism. .
“We have seen a real and worrying ideological convergence between far-right online communities and pro-Hamas sentiment,” said Ben Decker, CEO of Memetica, a threat analysis firm that tracks online hate.
The activity is on law enforcement’s radar as anti-Semitism continues to rise in the United States: A 316% increase in anti-Semitic incidents has hit the country since the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel on October 7, compared to same period last year, according to preliminary data released by the Anti-Defamation League.
Just days after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security warned of threats against the Jewish, Muslim and Arab-American communities, noting that anti-Semitism and anti-Islamic sentiment “permeate many ideologies violent extremists and serve as a primary driver of attacks by a diverse set of violent extremists.”
The heads of both agencies are expected to address the issue of domestic extremism at a hearing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. FBI Director Christopher Wray has already indicated that anti-Semitism is reaching “historic levels” in the US, and a police report obtained by CNN indicates that the Department of Homeland Security has compiled information about racist and hate groups in the US “that celebrate attacks on the Jewish community.”
Artificial intelligence, real hate
Users of the notorious hate-filled far-right online forum 4chan quickly began celebrating the October 7 attack, in what Memetica describes as “convergence of Hamas and white supremacist ideologies.”
While it is paradoxical that white supremacists would support an Islamic terrorist group, Decker says that white supremacists’ hatred of Jewish people trumps everything else.
Karen Dunn, a lawyer who prosecuted the people responsible for the violence at the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, told CNN that hate groups “hate everyone, but they hate Jews most.”
Anti-Semitism is a common thread that can unite several different and competing hate groups, which can then turn into hatred directed at others, she said.
“That’s what we saw in Charlottesville,” Dunn said. “The weekend began with ‘Jews will not replace us’ but ended with racially motivated violence against all groups.”
PHOTOS: See images of the conflict between Israel and Hamas
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
