Publications

In August 2017, the Israeli-German comedian and activist Shahak Shapira spray-painted tweets containing hate speech on the pavement in front of Twitter’s European headquarters in Hamburg. Shapira had previously reported those tweets to Twitter because of their harmful content. The

social media network, however, refused to delete them, citing its free speech policy. The tweets Shapira painted on the street and sidewalk contained messages such as “Let’s unite and gas some Jews again. Those were good times,” “Another bunch of Kanaken [a German slur

for people from the MENA region] arrived. Did they miss the exit to Auschwitz???,” or “Niggers are a plague.”1 Since social media networks emerged two decades ago, the spread of antisemitic, racist, misogynistic, homophobic, or otherwise hateful content on them has been a cause for concern.2 Social media platforms opened new paths for spreading hate as users benefit from the (perceived) anonymity and, thus, the (perceived) immunity from legal repercussions.