NJIT Distinguished Professor Julie Ancis brought her expertise in cyberpsychology and online hate to a federal civil-rights inquiry examining antisemitism in higher education.
Ancis provided her expertise Sept. 1 before the New Jersey Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. The committee invited her to address “cyberpsychology and the impacts of antisemitic rhetoric found on the internet,” particularly how online content influences young people and enters college environments.
The committee is conducting a broader study of antisemitism and its civil-rights implications. Testimony gathered through its public briefings will inform a report containing findings and recommendations for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Ancis, a distinguished professor in NJIT’s Department of Informatics and founding director of its Cyberpsychology program, told the committee that universities increasingly inherit attitudes formed through years of exposure to social media. Online rhetoric also continues to affect how students learn, socialize and experience campus life.
“For today’s students, there’s no longer a meaningful line between ‘on campus’ and ‘online,’” Ancis said in her remarks. “Antisemitic rhetoric and threats don’t arrive as isolated incidents; they’re embedded in the everyday digital spaces where students study and socialize.”
Her testimony drew upon national data, empirical research and her own published peer-reviewed work on online antisemitism, university leadership, and efforts to counter digital hate. She also discussed findings from an ongoing project funded by the Academic Engagement Network to develop a training model for mental health professionals working with Jewish students. Students participating in the project’s campus focus groups identified social media as a primary daily source of antisemitic rhetoric, she said. Ancis's research on thousands of posts from social media influencers also points toward potential solutions; with influencers countering antisemitism in a range of ways. Ancis also warned that generative AI can expand both the volume and sophistication of hateful content. Fabricated video, cloned audio and invented narratives can be produced rapidly and blended with authentic material, making misleading or threatening content more difficult for users and automated moderation systems to recognize. In addition, tested open-source AI models have produced dangerous, antisemitic, or violent content, highlighting how models released without robust guardrails can be prompted to generate harmful material at scale.
Her remarks concluded with three recommendations: develop crisis-communication protocols before triggering events occur, provide dedicated antisemitism training for mental health and student-affairs professionals, and support evaluated digital-literacy and interventions that reach students online.
“I urge this Committee to prioritize what the data shows matters most,” Ancis said, calling for institutions to prepare for crises before they arrive and respond where students are encountering harm.
