In a series of letters sent Friday, Attorney General Letitia James voiced concerns about the calls for violence that have rapidly spread on social media since the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched surprise attacks on Israel earlier this month that officials said have killed more than 1,400 Israelis and led to a similar number of Palestinians being reported dead in Gaza as a result of Israel's response.
James urged Google; Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta; X, the platform formerly known as Twitter; TikTok; Reddit; and Rumble to provide detailed explanations of what they're doing to ensure that their services aren't being used to "incite violence and further terrorist activities," including by describing how they're "identifying, removing and blocking" antisemitic and Islamophobic content.
"In the wake of Hamas' unspeakable atrocities, social media has been widely used by bad actors to spread horrific material, disseminate threats, and encourage violence," James said in a statement. "These platforms have a responsibility to keep their users safe and prohibit the spread of violent rhetoric that puts vulnerable groups in danger. I am calling on these companies to explain how they are addressing threats and how they will ensure that no online platform is used to further terrorist activities."
Since Hamas launched its attacks on Oct. 7, reports have emerged that threats against Jewish and Muslim people and institutions are rapidly being disseminated online by terrorist groups and individuals who sympathize with them. These reports include one from the Anti-Defamation League documenting "a surge in antisemitic threats and conspiracies spreading on social media following the Hamas attacks," according to James.
The attorney general's letters request that the social media giants explain in detail "how their content moderation policies and terms of service are being used to limit hate-based threats and reduce the likelihood that the platforms are used to plan acts of violence."
The letters also ask for the companies to provide information by Oct. 20 about what actions they've taken to address "the recent calls for violence against Jewish and Muslim people and institutions;" what public-facing community rules or other polices are in place to block users from leveraging the platform to disseminate calls for violence; how these companies determine whether content is a call for violence that should be taken down; how it blocks the reposting of this content; and what policies exist regarding "disciplining, suspending, and/or banning users for posting content that has been removed for spreading calls for violence."
"We are deeply concerned about this activity in light of the tragic history of such calls for violence," James said in her letters.
A Reddit spokesperson confirmed that the company has received the attorney general's letter and plans "to respond in a timely manner."
"We have strict sitewide policies against content that encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence or physical harm, including content created by or promoting legally designated terrorist organizations and other forms of terrorist content," the spokesperson said. "The policies also forbid hateful content. Our experienced safety teams are closely monitoring the situation and taking action against anything that violates these policies."
The statement echoed an Oct. 14 blog post by the company about its response to the conflict in Israel.
In that post, the company revealed that it's "using a combination of automated and human review" in order to identify and take action on any content or accounts that are in violation of its rules on disseminating content that pushes violence or physical harm.
A Meta spokesperson, in response to the attorney general's letters, pointed to an Oct. 13 blog post that detailed the company's "ongoing efforts regarding the Israel-Hamas War," which it has been "working around the clock to monitor our platforms, while protecting people's ability to use our apps to shed light on important developments happening on the ground."
"We quickly established a special operations center staffed with experts, including fluent Hebrew and Arabic speakers, to closely monitor and respond to this rapidly evolving situation in real time," the company said. This allows us to remove content that violates our Community Standards or Community Guidelines faster, and serves as another line of defense against misinformation.
Representatives for the other social media platforms couldn't be reached for comment.
The recent letters mark the latest step that James has taken to hold social media companies accountable and limit dangerous material from spreading online.
Last week, the attorney general teamed with New York's governor and members of the state Senate and Assembly to announce a pair of bills — the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act and the New York Child Data Protection Act — aimed at protecting children online by regulating social media feeds and how websites collect and use their data.
In unveiling these proposals, the officials cited studies that have shown that social media can harm the mental health of young adults and children, and that "addictive feeds" on social media, which are designed to use personal data to keep users on the platform as long as possible, have exacerbated the problem.
"Young New Yorkers are struggling with record levels of anxiety and depression, and social media companies that use addictive features to keep minors on their platforms longer are largely to blame," James said in an Oct. 11 statement. "This legislation will help tackle the risks of social media affecting our children and protect their privacy."
Additionally, James moved in July to lead a multistate coalition urging the Fifth Circuit to overturn a Louisiana district court's decision prohibiting dozens of federal officials and agencies from communicating with social media companies about harmful online content, including financial scams, misinformation meant to undermine elections and harassment.
The coalition of 21 attorneys general argued that the district court's order sets "a harmful precedent" that stands to undermine the ability of federal, state and local governments to keep Americans safe and secure online.
And in October, James joined New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in pressing for legislative reforms to strip social media companies such as Twitch and 4chan of the strong legal protections they currently have for violent criminal content posted on their platforms, in the wake of the attorney general's investigation into the role that social media platforms played in a deadly mass shooting in Buffalo earlier in the year.
"The tragic shooting in Buffalo exposed the real dangers of unmoderated online platforms that have become breeding grounds for white supremacy," James said in a statement at the time. "Online platforms should be held accountable for allowing hateful and dangerous content to spread on their platforms. Extremist content is flourishing online, and we must all work together to confront this crisis and protect our children and communities."
--Editing by Scott Russell.
Update: This article has been updated to add comment from Reddit and Meta.
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