The European Commission is hosting a two-day hackathon in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday to develop new digital tools to tackle antisemitism online.
The event, called TikkunTech, brings together more than 120 participants, including government officials, civil society organisations and technology specialists, the Commission informed on Tuesday.
Participants are working in teams on tools intended to improve the way online platforms moderate content and to reduce antisemitic bias in artificial intelligence models — software trained on large amounts of data that can produce text, images or other outputs.
The final projects will be assessed by a jury chaired by Katharina von Schnurbein, the European Commission’s co-ordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life.
EU Commissioner for internal affairs Magnus Brunner presented awards to the winning teams in each category.
AI models to be tested for antisemitic bias
A separate team of AI ethics experts will also test AI models during the event to identify risks of antisemitic bias and present its findings, the European Commission said.
“TikkunTech follows the Jewish principle of ‘Tikkun Olam' — repairing the world — by offering solutions to repair digital spaces to stem hate where it proliferates,” Brunner said in the statement.
TikkunTech was announced as a follow-up deliverable under the EU Strategy on Combating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish Life 2021–2030.
