Twitter Apologizes for 'Kill All Jews' Trending Topic

Among the phrases that appeared in Twitter’s local trends section for many New Yorkers on Friday were “#JobsReport,” “#FridayFeeling,” and “Kill all Jews.” That last one, Twitter says in a statement, “should not have appeared in trends, and we’re sorry for this mistake,” per BuzzFeed, which reports that the offensive phrase appeared for about 10 minutes. The company explains that news coverage and social media discussion of the vandalism of Brooklyn’s Union Temple synagogue the day before prompted the algorithm that selects trending topics to flag the phrase for the section, the New York Daily News reports. According to reports, the vandalism included phrases like “Jew better be ready” and “end is now” being scrawled in black marker on the synagogue.

Per BuzzFeed, “kill all Jews” misreported as being among the epithets. The vandalism (which came just days after 11 people were gunned down at a Pittsburgh synagogue) prompted Ilana Glazer, who stars in Broad City, to cancel a Thursday night political event at the synagogue, NBC reports. On Friday, the NYPD made public an image of the suspect, a black man who is about 20 years old wearing a suit red jacket, from surveillance footage. (More antisemitism stories.)