Monitoring of hateful content. Parliamentary Elections 2023.

Antisemitism and hate speech in the election campaign – monitoring report

During election campaigns, emotions run high—and with them, various forms of hateful content appear more frequently: antisemitic, homophobic, racist, or targeting other minority groups. These are no longer isolated incidents, but a phenomenon of growing scale that affects public debate and social safety. This publication was created to capture and understand it.
Prepared by the Jewish Czulent Association in cooperation with the University of Warsaw and the Center for Research on Prejudice, it is based on the analysis of internet monitoring data and the use of modern technologies to identify trends. It is a report for decision-makers, researchers, civil society organizations, and anyone who wants to better understand how hate speech works—and how to counter it.

What was still scattered and difficult to capture just a few years ago is now taking on an increasingly organized form. Hate speech is becoming a tool—used to mobilize voters, reinforce divisions, and build emotions around specific narratives.

From our perspective—working with victims and monitoring online content—we see that these messages do not remain without consequences. They translate into real experiences of individuals, affect their sense of safety, and can lead to the escalation of violence.

The report is an attempt to halt this process and take a closer look at it.

It was developed based on the monitoring of content published online during the election campaign. By using analytical tools and working with large datasets, it was possible not only to collect material, but also to capture the dynamics of the phenomenon—moments of escalation, recurring narratives, and the ways in which they spread.

We analyze specific messages, identify dominant themes, and show how hate speech fits into a broader political context. It is not only about what was said—but when, for what purpose, and with what effect.

The report indicates that countering hate speech cannot rely solely on responses to individual incidents. It requires a systemic approach, cooperation between institutions, and the use of knowledge and technology to identify trends at an early stage.

At the Jewish Czulent Association, we have been working in this area for years—at the intersection of human rights, new technologies, and the real experiences of victims. We cooperate with academic institutions, develop monitoring tools, and analyze evolving forms of hate in order to respond to them more effectively.

Our work is grounded in what we observe in practice—both in the reports brought to us by individuals and in the data that allows us to see the broader picture. This publication is one of the outcomes of that work—an invitation to engage in a conversation about how to counter hate speech in a way that is informed, knowledge-based, and responsive to the challenges of our time.

This publication was developed as part of the project “`Comprehensive strategy for countering antisemitic hate speech in public space,” funded by the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future,” and implemented by the Jewish Czulent Association with the substantive support of the Center for Research on Prejudice.

This publication does not reflect the position or views of the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future.” The authors alone are responsible for its content.