Canadian-Slovakian model Miriam Mattova is intensifying her public advocacy to hold social media platforms accountable for online hate, saying unchecked anonymity has helped normalize antisemitic threats and allowed violent rhetoric to flourish without consequences.
Mattova, 33, who lives in Toronto, has become an outspoken critic of what she describes as regulatory inaction by governments and technology companies, particularly as she faces a sustained campaign of online harassment. In November, she was forced out of an Uber ride after a driver learned she was Jewish, an incident that later led to a settlement she says she cannot discuss.
Since then, she says the volume of threats directed at her online has surged, with messages praising Adolf Hitler, calling for her murder, and targeting her Jewish identity and Zionism.
“This level of anonymity creates a breeding ground for extremism, harassment and escalation,” Mattova told The Press Service of Israel. “It allows hate to be amplified and normalized without accountability, and violent rhetoric becomes casual. Threats start to feel acceptable to the people making them.”
Examples of the messages Mattova says she sees daily on Instagram and Twitter include explicit praise of violence and genocide. She shared screen-captures of some comments.