The American Jewish Committee is hosting a video competition called MyIsrael. With related groups on Facebook and YouTube, Avigail Sugarman learned the hard way that hatred of Israel on these sites can’t be ignored. I’ll just skip to the moral of the story:
YouTube has become a primary vehicle for the exchange of ideas and the formation of public opinion. In this instance, however, its power – with a tentacle-like reach and an astounding speed of dissemination – was wielded to spread hateful anti-Israel messages . . . .
Before this incident, I believed that the debate on YouTube was secondary; we could turn a blind eye to anti-Israel expressions on the Internet, but make sure to step in when it came to the academy or the New York Times. What I learned last week was that sitting out the debate in this case will mean that those who hate Israel will define the debate for anyone who types “Israel” into a search. If we are too slow in recognizing this new front, we will lose the chance to impact these discussions and ultimately turn the tide.
