Clubhouse shuts down chatrooms after anti-Semitism complaints

JTA — Clubhouse, the new audio-based social network, announced that it “shut down a number of rooms” in the wake of complaints about anti-Semitism.

On Sunday, a Twitter user with the handle @EliKohn3 wrote about a chat on Clubhouse that discussed “Jewish Privilege,” where they said users were repeating and promoting anti-Semitic stereotypes.

“Nearly 200 people talking about how Jews control the federal reserve, Jews were behind the trans Atlantic slave trade, minorities are pawns for the Jews to destroy whites,” @EliKohn3 wrote. “I can’t believe the amount of antisemitism omg.”

Later that day, Clubhouse announced that it had shut down groups that violated its anti-discrimination policies.

“We shut down a number of rooms found to be in violation and, where appropriate, issued suspensions and removed users indefinitely,” it said, responding to @EliKohn3’s tweet but not referring specifically to any accounts or groups. “All forms of racism, antisemitism, hate speech and abuse are prohibited on Clubhouse and are a direct violation of the Community Guidelines.”

We shut down a number of rooms found to be in violation and, where appropriate, issued suspensions and removed users indefinitely.

All forms of racism, antisemitism, hate speech and abuse are prohibited on Clubhouse and are a direct violation of the Community Guidelines. https://t.co/fc18zGGUAJ

— Clubhouse (@joinClubhouse) April 19, 2021

The app, which was launched about a year ago and already boasts over 8 million downloads, connects users by allowing them to join together in “rooms” to talk with each other. It has faced accusations of allowing anti-Semitism in the past, and in September the Verge, a tech publication, reported that it “is still struggling with moderation.”

“The antisemitism that we have seen spread on Clubhouse in recent weeks, particularly the ugly surge this weekend, is a painful reminder of the persistence of anti-Jewish hate and how it infects so much of social media,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt told Jewish Insider. “This weekend we know that there was a torrent of ugly, indisputable hatred, from raw Holocaust denialism to disgusting lies about the Jewish people and slanderous claims against the Jewish state.”