Codes, Patterns and Shapes of Contemporary Online Antisemitism and Conspiracy Narratives – an Annotation Guide and Labeled German-Language Dataset in the Context of COVID-19

Abstract

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, existing conspiracy theories were refreshed and new ones were created, often interwoven with antisemitic narratives, stereotypes and codes. The sheer volume of antisemitic and conspiracy theory content on the Internet makes data-driven algorithmic approaches essential for anti-discrimination organizations and researchers alike. However, the manifestation and dissemination of these two interrelated phenomena is still quite under-researched in scholarly empirical research of large text corpora. Algorithmic approaches for the detection and classification of specific contents usually require labeled datasets, annotated based on conceptually sound guidelines. While there is a growing number of datasets for the more general phenomenon of hate speech, the development of corpora and annotation guidelines for antisemitic and conspiracy content is still in its infancy, especially for languages other than English. To address this gap, we have developed an annotation guide for antisemitic and conspiracy theory online content in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic that includes working definitions, e.g. of specific forms of antisemitism such as encoded and post-Holocaust antisemitism. We use the guide to annotate a German-language dataset consisting of $\sim \! 3,700$ Telegram messages sent between 03/2020 and 12/2021.