Toronto (September 29, 2020) - Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) enthusiastically supports today’s launch of the Inter-Parliamentary Task Force to Combat Online Antisemitism, which has laid out a list of goals as part of its campaign against hate speech on social media platforms.

FSWC President and CEO and former parliamentarian Michael Levitt is a member of the 11-person Task Force consisting of members of national legislatures in Canada, Israel, the U.S., the U.K. and Australia.

The Task Force’s goals include: establishing consistent messaging and policy from parliaments and legislatures to hold social media platforms accountable; the adoption and publication of transparent policies related to hate speech; raising awareness about antisemitism on social media platforms and its consequences; serve as a means for protecting all minority groups from online hate and underscoring that the fight against antisemitism is a non-partisan consensus in democratic countries.

“The growth of antisemitism that we are witnessing around the globe is being accelerated by the ever-expanding opportunities online to spread hatred and recruit new members to hateful and extremist causes,” said Levitt. “As the world stands together in battling the coronavirus, we must also stand united in rejecting the virus of hatred so that it does not continue to spread. I am honoured to be part of this bipartisan and international taskforce in which we will stand in solidarity and with a unified voice as we confront the scourge of antisemitism on the internet.”