Jewish Labour Party member Luciana Berger who has been the target of antisemitism on Twitter. Photo: Twitter.

JNS.org – A new report on antisemitism in the United Kingdom found that Twitter fails to properly handle abusive, antisemitic tweets from its users, British daily the Independent reported.

According to the British Home Affairs Select Committee report, “It is disgraceful that any individual should have to tolerate such appalling levels of anti-Semitic abuse in order to use Twitter – a social media platform now regarded as a requirement for any public figure.”

The cross-party committee also said it was “shocked” at the “viscerally anti-Semitic nature and volume” of tweets aimed at Jewish members of Parliament.

It cited, for example, the fact that Jewish Labour MP Luciana Berger received 2,500 abusive messages over three days in 2014. Some of these messages, using the hashtag “filthyjewbitch,” are still available.

“In the context of [its] global revenue of $2.2 billion, it is deplorable that Twitter continues to act as an inert host for vast swathes of anti-Semitic hate speech and abuse,” the report stated.

A representative for Twitter, which relies on users to report abuse, responded, “Hateful conduct has no place on Twitter, and we will continue to tackle this issue head-on alongside our partners in industry and civil society. People must feel safe in order to speak freely and there is a clear distinction between freedom of expression and conduct that incites violence and hate.”