Social media has become the primary arena where antisemitism spreads and where millions form their opinions about Jews, Israel, and the world. The same platforms that shape public perception about Israel and the Jewish people fuel misogyny, anti-black racism, Islamophobia, anti-LGBTQ+ hate, and general disinformation—and with content moderation largely abandoned and no legislation to keep the Big Tech bigwigs in check, confronting this reality demands the attention of every affected community.
The tech accountability movement is a growing coalition of researchers, advocates, policymakers, and civil society leaders working to ensure that technology platforms operate in the public interest. This movement seeks to hold Big Tech companies responsible for the harm their products cause, whether by spreading disinformation, amplifying hate, or exploiting users’ data for profit. It recognizes that online platforms have become the infrastructure of modern democracy, and with that power comes an obligation to protect the public from manipulation and abuse.
Free Speech vs. Censorship?
At stake in this movement is the question of what kind of digital society we want to build, and who gets to set its boundaries. For those under the impression that this is a debate about free speech versus censorship, you have been misled.
It is a debate over public interest versus private power—whether our shared digital spaces serve citizens or shareholders, and whether democracy or unelected Silicon Valley mavens determine the boundaries of public discourse.
To confront the tsunami of antisemitism that has flooded both digital and real-life town squares, the Jewish community must join this broader fight for tech accountability and build formal coalitions with the influential leaders tackling information disorder, the collective term encompassing disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation.
Activists, NGOs, and policymakers addressing it are confronting issues that span election integrity, climate denial, health conspiracies, digital hate, and more. Within this chaotic landscape, antisemitism often appears both as a harbinger and a consequence of broader social breakdown, serving as a testing ground for tactics and narratives later deployed against others.
Antisemitism and Information Disorder
Consider the intersection of climate crisis denial and antisemitic conspiracy theories following tragedies like Hurricane Helene and the Los Angeles wildfires. Instead of focusing on climate change, antisemitic claims blamed Jews for controlling California’s water supply or manipulating the weather. Antisemitism has long stood at the vanguard of information disorder, functioning as a blueprint for manipulation, scapegoating, and social division. Recognizing this allows the Jewish community to see that the same bad actors who target Jews also endanger countless others, and vice versa.
It also creates an opening for meaningful, long-term partnerships with communities we have too often stood apart from—including the climate movement, the LGBTQ+ community, racial justice advocates, and pro-democracy organizers—all of whom are confronting parallel challenges within the same toxic digital ecosystem.
While leaders in the tech accountability space understand these links, many well-intentioned activists in other movements do not. Climate advocates and LGBTQ+ defenders often fail to see how antisemitic myths are woven into the disinformation campaigns that undermine their causes. This gap represents a rare opportunity for the Jewish community to build bridges, educate allies, and work collectively to demand transparency from technology platforms that profit from division.
It is no longer enough for Jewish institutions to lament rising antisemitism within their own circles. The community must join and strengthen the tech accountability movement through philanthropic partnerships, advocacy coalitions, and sustained collaboration. Doing so ensures that antisemitism remains part of the global conversation on online harm while also deepening relationships with allies who share a stake in curbing digital hate. These relationships must be rooted in shared values and mutual protection.
Potential Solutions: Legislative Reform and Coalition Building
Real progress depends on legislative reform. The Digital Services Act in the European Union and the Online Safety Bill in the United Kingdom demonstrate that meaningful oversight is possible, requiring platforms to take responsibility for the harms they host.
The advocates behind these efforts—many not Jewish—have elevated antisemitism as part of a broader fight against online abuse, just as they have highlighted threats to election workers, climate scientists, and young people targeted by health disinformation.
In the United States, momentum is building around reforms such as Section 230 modernization, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), and the AI LEAD Act, a bipartisan initiative to ensure transparency, accountability, and ethical standards in artificial intelligence systems. Together, these measures signal growing recognition that unregulated digital platforms and emerging AI tools pose serious risks to democracy and public well-being if left unchecked.
The Jewish community has a profound opportunity in this moment: to help co-lead the movement for tech accountability while re-engaging with communities that haven’t recently stood with us but share many of our values and vulnerabilities. Joining forces with climate justice organizers, LGBTQ+ advocates, and democracy defenders is not only strategic but necessary. We share a common adversary in the digital architecture of division and a common mission to restore truth and decency to the public square.
If embraced with humility and courage, the fight for tech accountability can become a bridge not only to safer digital spaces but to renewed alliances between Jews and the many communities with whom our futures are deeply intertwined.
Coby Schoffman is a social entrepreneur and the founder of The Nation Foundation (TNF), which operates project zones across East Africa.
This op-ed is published in partnership with a coalition of organizations that fight antisemitism across the world. Read the previous article by Eyal Yakoby.