About RESPOND!

‘RESPOND! No to Jew-hatred on the Internet!’ is a four-year
project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and
Education and Research (BMBF) with 1.3 million euros.

The project is led by the Jewish-American Touro University Berlin, which works closely with the Bielefeld - University of Applied Sciences and Arts and the University of Potsdam as well as with the Jewish Community of Berlin, the largest Jewish community in Germany.

RESPOND! brings together a team of academic experts of anti-Semitism researchers and media and cultural cultural psychologists with experts from the field of inclusion from the fields of inclusion education, racism prevention, interaction research interaction research and the social sector.

The RESPOND! joint project aims to develop a sustainable to develop and disseminate a sustainable counter-voice and disseminate it in order to combat anti-Semitic hate speech in social media in Germany.

RESPOND! wants to empower young addressees and witnesses of of antisemitic hate speech to recognise their discursive tactics in social media, also in in their modern and more subtle forms and and to counter them in a media-competent manner.

These objectives are addressed in four separate, studies that build on each other:

Based on different methodological approaches (qualitative content, discourse and conversation analysis), antisemitic hate rhetoric on the most relevant social media platforms used by young people in Germany (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube) is analysed.

Study 2 examines the behaviour of young people in Germany and their susceptibility to antisemitic hate rhetoric on social media. Focus group discussions are used to explore their experiences and previously learnt skills in responding to antisemitism on social media in a media-competent manner.

The combined findings from studies 1 and 2 form the basis for the development of the RESPOND! media skills training programme. Once developed, the training programme will be implemented and evaluated. Study 3 will conclude with a multiplication of the training programme for up to 600 young people.

Study 4 focuses on schools in the Berlin, Potsdam and Bielefeld areas. Here, up to 600 teachers are being sensitised to the vulnerabilities and skills of young people in dealing with anti-Semitism in social media.

Gruppenfoto mit Menschen vor Haus.