Democracies must act now against resurgent antisemitism

A deeply disturbing clip is making the rounds on social media, showing a group of young ‘influencers’ from the U.S. spewing antisemitic rhetoric that looks like it was translated from a Joseph Goebbels speech.

The influencers express open admiration for fascist Germany’s genocidal campaign against Jewish People, and call for the same to happen today.

On Twitter, former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney accurately noted how this horrific content is now being mainstreamed:

“For those in denial about the growing wave of antisemitism: see this vile, explicit Jew hatred on full display.

This is a podcast with 1.5 million subscribers.

The “influencer” cackling at the defence of Hitler, the Holocaust, and the call for Jews to be killed is Myron Gaines, (real name Amrou Fudl.) He runs this podcast, and used to be an agent in the US Department of Homeland Security.

For a growing segment of young people, these odious views are being mainstreamed through content like this. Campus antisemitism is being mashed together with far left and far right antisemitism, all amplified through social media, particularly TikTok.

This is the 2025 equivalent of Der Stürmer.”

https://twitter.com/jkenney/status/1948455701871034461

While many have become numb to outrage these days, we must retain our capacity for recognizing when evil ideas are being spread. And expressing support for fascist Germany and genocide against Jewish People is evil.

The irony, of course, is that some of the influencers praising fascist Germany would have been seen as not even human by that regime, and would have been enslaved or killed had the fascists won the war.

Such are the depths of ignorance about history, the erosion of ethics, and the promotion of ignorance that people are confidently expressing support for ideas that would bring about their own destruction.

Because the opinions expressed are so odious and ignorant, our first thought is often to dismiss this a simply a group of foolish people with no influence. But, as noted by Jason Kenney, the podcast on which those views were uttered has 1.5 million subscribers. That means influence, whether we like it or not.

Thus, it is important to accept that this is a fight that must be waged. Antisemitism and fascism are surging once again, and that means democracies must act fast. There will always be unscrupulous politicians who are willing to tap into hatred to gain power, meaning that unchecked antisemitism and fascism will find promoters within the political system who will try to bring those ideas into prominence and then into power.

Democracies must fight back on multiple fronts. Education is the most important step, something some governments are recognizing. For example, the Manitoba Government recently made Holocaust education mandatory.

Democracies must also restore the taboo against antisemitism through tougher enforcement of hate speech laws. Holocaust denial and calling for genocide should bring severe consequences. Though this may not change the minds of those who spread hate, it will dissuade people from feeling confident enough to express those ideas in public, reducing the spread of those ideas.

Social media companies should also be encouraged to ban antisemitic content and calls for genocide by deplatforming creators who spread that content. If those companies refuse to do so, governments will have to contemplate fines and/or bans of those platforms. Though that would be an aggressive step, it is simply unsustainable to let genocidal content spread out of control in violation of the laws of many democracies. We wouldn’t let foreign countries fly planes over our territory and drop genocidal propaganda, so why would we sit back and do nothing as such content spreads on social media?

Most importantly, each of us has a role to play in fighting back. Democracies are ultimately shaped by citizens, and the more we speak out against antisemitism, call out hate, and push for our governments to take action, the more we can turn the tide and help preserve the rights and freedoms that past generations of Canadians fought and died for.

Spencer Fernando

Image – Twitter

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