Regulation of the Media

Modern antisemitism is no longer confined to fringe forums or offensive symbols painted on synagogues: it is now a profit-driven digital economy, powered by crypto, AI, and decentralized platforms. To confront it effectively, we must regulate the infrastructure that monetizes hate—not just educate against it.

Antisemitism is being intensified by algorithm-driven social media and unregulated AI, making tech policy the decisive arena for combating hate.

The police summoned three journalists to testify as part of the investigation into links between the Prime Minister’s advisors and Qatar. Unlike other privileged relationships, reporter’s privilege is not grounded in law in Israel. Why is that and when are journalists asked to reveal their sources? 

On December 9, 2024, the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) and European Union (EU) Delegation in Israel jointly hosted a conference with leaders in the field of digital media challenges and regulations to advance solutions.

The "Fake or Not" initiative emerged after the outbreak of the "Iron Swords" war, from an understanding of the need to emphasize media literacy in educational and social institutions.

IDI experts outline the initiatives and measures undertaken by the government that, taken together, constitute a concentrated effort undermine Israel's democratic institutions. At the core of these efforts is a dramatic attempt to weaken the status of the Attorney General; increased politicization of the police; continued undermining of the independence of the judiciary and more.

The Brussels Effect and the Washington Effect represent two paradigms in the realm of AI governance, each with its own strengths and challenges. However, the tension between "accelerationists" and "regulationists" demands alternative proposals. One of them is introduced in this report as the "Mumbai and Tel Aviv Effect."

A special report on consumption patterns and trust in the media and social media.

A fictional tale of the very real danger in the absence of global regulation of AI.

Judicial overhaul initiatives, along with other anti-democratic measures, have continued to be promoted by the government and the coalition in the Knesset. This document outlines the various actions taken in government that weaken the Israeli judiciary and democracy at large.

Foreign Israel critics use advancements in AI, including ChatGPT, to misrepresent their actions through Hebrew translations; addressing this requires international laws to make AI developers accountable.

Attempts by the Prime Minister to influence the Chief Censor may indicate a concerning erosion of the Military Censor’s independence and professionalism. Clearly, state secrets must be protected, especially during war, but there are better ways for this to be accomplished, more suited to a democratic state.

Israeli leaders are calling for the end of disinformation in the war while shaking hands with the man behind so much of it - Elon Musk. The current war has turned X into a human behavior experiment, and we are the lab rats. 

Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi has proposed reforms to Israel's broadcast system. The components of the reforms, alongside the context in which they are being proposed, make clear that their objective is a politicization and government control of regulatory bodies.

The broadcast system in Israel certainly needs to be reformed in various ways, but Communications Minister Karhi's proposals all include a political twist that transform reform into ruination.

What can the media do to safeguard democracy in an increasingly hostile environment? Susan Glasser, staff writer for The New Yorker and a participant in IDI’s recent Democracy Under Stress conference, analyzes the challenges facing American media.

In 2016, Israelis’ trust in the mass media reached an all-time low. But the decline seems to have bottomed out then; the increase in trust registered in 2017 has continued this year and reached 31%. This is still low as compared to many other institutions, but is all the same an improvement.

Trust in Israeli media is on the rise, and that's a valuable lifeline to those whose job it is to keep the public informed.

The Israel Democracy Institute applauds Prime Minister Netanyahu’s decision to reevaluate the Facebook Law which was initially formulated to help fight terrorism, but evolved into a draconian law that could set back the Start-Up Nation decades in terms of freedom of speech.

When we use social networks, search engines or other online services on our computers or smartphones, we leave behind a long digital trail. The Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal should serve as a wake-up call to us all as to the implications.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal raises troubling questions about the colossal amount of personal data now available online. Dr. Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler says that states must take more aggressive action to protect individual privacy and prevent private entities from hijacking elections.

"Weak media leads to fake news"

David Zeev (Reshet Bet) talks to Dr. Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, 

The panel: Is it Trump, Zuckerberg or US - Whose Fault is Fake News? was held at the Globes-Israel Business Conference in Jerusalem on January 11, 2018.

Last year the Democracy Index pointed to an all-time low in public trust in the media. However, in 2017 it seems that the trend has reversed. Why?

Ahead of the expected debate on the amendment to the public broadcasting law that is expected to take place on Sunday, IDI scholars resent a policy statement to legislators calling on them to stop this “unprofessional and shameful” legislative process and to enable the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation to go on air.

Especially now, it is important to remember: There is no watchdog that is more important, that barks louder or is more effective at safeguarding Israeli democracy.

Ministers say the current law, which separates public broadcasting from politics, is good and sound.

What is the state of freedom of information in Israel? Like in the US, there is good and bad news.

Is Israeli democracy weak, fragile and on the brink of collapse, or is it robust, stable and resilient? 

Elor Azaria’s case shows how online pressure by extremist voices can swiftly go viral in the Israeli mainstream, forcing politicians to choose: Play catch up or resist, but at great personal cost.

Ahead of a recent discussion by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation on the “Facebook Bill,” IDI’s Dr. Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler wrote a policy statement in which she called the bill non-applicable to the modern day. She said the bill is likely to cause disproportionate censorship through what will be dysfunctional legal proceedings.

When a sizable portion of our decision-makers have that difficulty, and “digital illiteracy” becomes evident in the upper echelons where decisions are made, we’ve got a problem. This article was first published by The Jerusalem Post.

IDI President Plesner Responds to Liberman's Rebuke of Army Radio

Dr. Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler says rejoicing over the death of television and the birth of “intervision” is premature. This column was originally published by Times of Israel.

Dr. Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler argues that the main reason the coup in Turkey fizzled is not because of Erdogan’s FaceTime message, but because he had been anticipating this putsch for quite a few years and had arranged the entire legal apparatus that governs the relationship between the Turkish government and the media accordingly. 

The Oscar award-winning “Spotlight” captures the mix of frustration, joy, drudgery and thrill that goes into every great investigative story, reminding viewers of the power of investigative journalism to reveal the abuse of power in the public and private sectors. Could the Pulitzer-prize winning work of the Boston Globe be replicated today?

While in Israel there is no formal constitution, freedom of expression is inherent in our Basic Laws. Yet a recent episode between the Israeli government and the foreign press placed Israel in a problematic light and was neither democratic nor right.

How long will we continue to recite the mantra that “technology cannot be stopped?” To what extent will we take a stand and cease to permit bad social engineering? This article was originally published by The Jerusalem Post.

Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler reminds us that the media is the cement that holds the stones of democracy together. As the arbiter of reality, the purpose of the media is to show us, the citizens, what is going on around us. To the same extent, it is also supposed to reflect our feelings and our level of trust in the decision-makers and representatives whom we elect to govern us.

On Wednesday, May 27, 2015, IDI Research Fellow Dr. Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, head of Media Reform and Open Government Projects, chaired a session entitled “The New Journalism: How Digital Media Changed the Rules” at an international conference in Jerusalem. On this page, the session can be viewed in its entirety.

In the lines below, Hanoch Marmari, former editor of Haaretz and current editor of The Seventh Eye, an independent on-line journal dedicated to critique of the media, defends <em>Israel Hayom</em>'s right to exist as a free newspaper, notwithstanding his professional qualms about the quality of its journalism.

Hanoch Marmari, former editor of Haaretz and current editor of The Seventh Eye, an independent on-line journal dedicated to critique of the media, defends <em>Israel Hayom</em>'s right to exist as a free newspaper, notwithstanding his professional qualms about the quality of its journalism.

A summary of a legal opinion opposing the "Law for the Advancement and Protection of Print Journalism in Israel," which would prohibit the distribution of a full-sized daily newspaper in Israel free of charge.

Dr. Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler discusses the challenges to transparency in the budgets of Israel's local authorities, including the need to make budgets accessible, to enable searches within budgets, and to facilitate comparisons between the budgets of different authorities.

IDI Vice President Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer discusses the High Court of Justice's decision to uphold the Israel Broadcasting Authority's rejection of an infomercial in which the names of Gazan children who were killed in Operation Protective Edge would have been read aloud. 

In the midst of Operation Protective Edge, IDI President Yohanan Plesner warns of the dangers of racism, incitement, and stifling of free speech and asserts that it is essential to internalize a substantive democratic culture. 

IDI Researcher Dr. Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler analyzes a Supreme Court ruling that recalled a book and struck a balance between the right to privacy and the right to freedom of expression, and discusses larger questions of privacy in the digital age.

In an op-ed in Ynet News, IDI researcher Dr. Haim Zicherman discusses the steps that Israeli society must take in order to enable ultra-Orthodox men to integrate into the Israeli army and workforce.

As Israel prays for the safe return of Gilad Shaar, Naftali Fraenkel, and Eyal Yifrach, Dr. Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, head of IDI's Media Reform project, shares thoughts on the use of gag orders and military censorship in the digital age.

In an article in <em>Makor Rishon</em>, Prof. Yedidia Stern describes his feelings of sadness, pride, apprehension, and hope upon the sentencing of Ehud Olmert to prison for his role in the Holyland affair.

In a fiery op-ed, Dr. Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler responds to charges of bias and lays out IDI's pro-active agenda in favor of media diversity and transparency and its efforts to save the <em>Makor Rishon</em>  newspaper. 

Who is addressing the problematic relationship between local and national government in Israel? Is anyone designing a a comprehensive reform program to solve some of the issues that are the result of a malfunctioning system of local governance? How, if at all, does the national media deal with this issue?

In this article from The Seventh Eye, two journalists from  Globes explain discuss a new phenomenon: many journalists have abandoned reporting legwork and let their fingers do the walking, reproducing, sometime verbatim, anonymous content circulating on the web.

According to Tamar Guttman, a doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at Tel Aviv University, there is little room for enthusiasm regarding the way Israel’s mainstream media addressed the subject of the disengagement plan. In this article, originally published in The Seventh Eye on October 31, 2004, Guttman explains that the media was usually preoccupied with the petty, marginal, and sensationalist aspects of the initiative, systematically failing to examine the important issues raised by the withdrawal from Gaza or to ask difficult questions.

What is the media's responsibility in covering the protests of the Ethiopian community against and what are the problems in the coverage?

Yesh Atid, Zionist Camp and Meretz have the strongest online presence, while the Joint List and Yisrael Beiteinu lag behind.

Despite the verdict, the real story in the Azaria affair is the moral, not the legal, issue, and this debate is alive and well.

Israel's Military Censor, an institution that has no parallel in any other democracy in the world, must cease to exist.

The Guttman Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research (then the Guttman Center) carried out a series of surveys just before, during and after the war.

In preparation for the Knesset vote on Tuesday on the fate of the Israel Broadcasting Corporation (IBC), leaders at the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) are calling on ministers to vote against the memorandum so as not to participate “in this campaign of revenge and inappropriate personal legislation.”

IDI hosted an exclusive and high-level roundtable discussion on Facebook policies, Israel’s proposed Facebook Bill and freedom of expression. Simon Milner, Facebook policy director for the United Kingdom, Middle East and Africa, participated.

Latest Peace Index: despite UN Security Council Resolution 2334, majority of Jewish Israelis support continued building in the settlements; Israelis consider trial of Elor Azaria unfair; in 2017, all are optimistic