ADL Tackles Online Hate Speech With Silicon Valley Command Center

A leading civil rights group in the U.S. plans to build a command center in Silicon Valley where activists, educators and experts will work to combat online hate speech and harassment.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which is headquartered in New York City but has regional locations across the country, is planting its new office amid titans of the tech industry in California, the group’s leader announced Sunday. The ADL is among more than 100 Jewish institutions across the country that have received bomb threats this year.

“Now more than ever as anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism, and other hatreds have exploded online, it’s critical that we are bringing best-in-class technology and resources to this fight,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement.

ADL employees in the command center will track and analyze hate speech on the Internet to compile reports, offer suggestions to legislators and expose incidents of cyberbullying.

The organization said it has received a six-figure donation from Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm, to build the center.