Otherwise titled: Reducing the algorithmic advantage of conspiratorial antisemitism and antizionism.

Trying to correct a viral antisemitic or antizionist falsehood online is an Alice-in-Wonderland experience. Despite posting evidence, linking to reputable sources, and explaining context, the lies keep traveling. Reputable sources are discounted in favor of emotionally charged posts with no clear provenance. Debunking of falsehoods is distorted to validate the lies. The effort of a counter-argument is interpreted as a nervous, desperate attempt to avoid accountability.

It’s frustrating, but maybe it’s telling us we’re fighting the wrong battle.

Most people think debunking is about truth versus falsehood. But the modern misinformation war, especially when it comes wrapped in conspiratorial antisemitism, is not primarily a contest of accuracy, but rather a contest of distribution. And distribution is governed by algorithms and human psychology working together to elevate what captures attention, what triggers emotion, what creates identity, and what spreads fastest.

The uncomfortable reality is that some lies are simply better designed for the internet than is the truth.

So, how do we debunk a false claim in a way that doesn’t accidentally give it more reach? How do we reduce the algorithmic advantage natural to conspiratorial, engaging antisemitic or antizionist material? The answer is not by being more persuasive. The answer is by changing the mechanics of spread. If we want to win, we have to stop thinking like a lawyer and start thinking like an engineer searching for ways to introduce friction, change incentives, and interrupt the loop. We can achieve this by following ten important rules:

 Rule One: Stop Treating the Feed Like a Courtroom

 A courtroom has rules where evidence matter, arguments proceed in sequence, and people are required to sit still and listen. A feed is not a courtroom, it’s a casino.

The feed doesn’t reward what is correct.  It rewards what is irresistible, like outrage, fear, disgust, the thrill of forbidden knowledge, and the satisfaction of having an enemy. Antisemitic and antizionist conspiracy narratives, whether explicit or coded, are built out of these exact ingredients. They offer a clean villain, a secret story, and the sense that the viewer is one of the few people brave enough to see it and admit it. Conventional debunking fails because it assumes people are in truth-seeking mode when they are really in identity-seeking mode.

Rule Two: The Best Debunk is the One That Happens Before the Lie

 Psychologists call it inoculation; the idea that teaching people to recognize a tactic before they encounter it makes it much harder for them to be manipulated when they are confronted by it. This is why prebunking or warning people about the methods of misinformation often outperforms efforts to........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)