Governor Murphy and Attorney General Grewal Decry Anti-Semitic Content of “Rise Up Ocean County”

Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey, joined by Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal, released a statement in which they publicized a letter they sent to a social media company concerning some posts of the “Rise Up Ocean County” group which have been deemed anti-Semitic by many.

“In April 2019, the Director of our Division on Civil Rights, Rachel Wainer Apter, sent a letter expressing concerns with a page on social network entitled Rise Up Ocean County,” they wrote. “We had serious concerns with racist and anti-Semitic statements on the page, including an explicit goal of preventing Orthodox Jews from moving to Ocean County, and we made clear our view that the page appeared to violate [the company’s] terms of service. We have continued to follow up with that since the initial letter in April, and we renewed our concerns as recently as this week.”

Murphy and Grewal expressed their appreciation that some steps to address anti-Semitic content on the page had been taken, but insisted, “much more can be done, and we believe they must make lasting reforms to stop the spread of hate on the Internet.”

The governor ended his statement by writing, “The Murphy Administration will continue to call out hate whenever and wherever we see it, and we will continue working to make New Jersey a safe and inclusive place for all of our residents.”