17,000 tweet ‘Hitler was right,’ and Big Tech barely reacts

Yesterday afternoon, the phrase #FireMeghanMcCain was trending on Twitter. What terrible, awful thing had she said to warrant trending on Twitter? The co-host of “The View” had done something few others have: decried an alarming spike in anti-Semitism.

It’s not surprising, if you’re familiar with Twitter, to see how an outspoken defender of the Jewish people may find herself in its cross hairs. This is a place where variations of the phrase “Hitler was right” were posted more than 17,000 times (according to the Anti-Defamation League) in just a one-week span in May. As in-person violence against Jews has spiked, so too has hatred against Jews online. They are not disconnected phenomena, but part of the same ecosystem of hate that has blossomed along with the increase in tensions in the Middle East.