Since the October 7 2023 Hamas massacre, which marked one of the deadliest days for Jews since the Holocaust, antisemitic speech has spread online like wildfire.
Telegram, known for its stringent privacy features and minimal content moderation, has since become a bastion for groups that incite violence against Jews and the Jewish State.
A newly released report by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) tracked a sample of 793 channels/groups and 7,769 users, representing those who posted at least one violent antisemitic or anti-Israel message between April 2023 and 2024.
The analysis found that on the day of the attacks antisemitic posts surged by 433.76%, skyrocketing from an average of 238.12 to 1,271 daily. While this spike has diminished, the current average of 321.22 daily posts remains significantly higher than pre-attack levels.
Antisemitic conspiracy theories spreading across various platforms include false accusations that Israelis harvest organs from Palestinians, accusations that Jews were responsible for the 9/11 attacks, that Jews control the media and the U.S. government, that Jews promote the “LGBTQ+ agenda,” and denying or distorting Israel’s role in the October 7, 2023, attacks, falsely suggesting Israel orchestrated the violence.
The influence of antisemitic content is measured by the volume of posts and user engagement, particularly by how frequently these posts are shared. Analysis by the ADL revealed that, before October 7, an average of 12.18 unique users forwarded extreme antisemitic posts weekly and this surged to 20.96 after that date. Additionally, the weekly forwarding of violent antisemitic and anti-Israel messages rose from 204.03 to 346.4.
