To be honest, I haven’t thought that much about antisemitism before 7th of October. But following the massacre, I saw so much going on online: so much justification of the event, so much jew hate from both real people and bots, both organic and organised. I was pretty impressed by the scale of the problem, so I decided to educate myself about it.
As I researched further, I was surprised not only by the hatred but also by how creative and bizarre some antisemitic conspiracy theories have become. Some were so strange they could almost be funny if they weren’t so troubling. I remember being shocked by ideas I had never heard before, like the claim that pornography is a Jewish weapon meant to poison people’s minds. The way these stories kept appearing showed me that this was not just random hate, but something deeply rooted in online culture.
The Role of the Algorithm
I think a big reason for this is how social media works. Likes, shares, and algorithms don’t just show what people believe—they help spread content even more, often boosting the most extreme and divisive posts. I believe there’s already enough evidence that, without real regulation, social media algorithms will keep pushing societies toward more division and hostility.
In my job tracking antisemitic content in Australia, I’ve noticed some troubling and confusing patterns. Some of the same online spaces that call for dismantling Israel also talk about dismantling Australia. I don’t really understand how these ideas overlap or what people think would get better if these goals were reached. For me, Australia now shows how antisemitism can mix with bigger anti-system or anti-state ideas and spread much further than where it started.
Shifting Perspectives
This work has also changed how I understand Jewish safety. I now better understand people in countries like France and the UK who say that being Jewish there feels increasingly uncomfortable. I never thought they were exaggerating, but without seeing the scale of online hate firsthand, I couldn’t fully process what that meant. Now I can see how online hostility easily shifts into real-world fear, making people feel less safe and more suspicious.
When it comes to solutions, I know the problem won’t solve itself. Reactive work—monitoring, reporting, guarding online spaces—is vital. The more actors pushing back, the better. But reading so much hatred also makes me think about what the “medicine” might be. How do we become proactive? How do we make people laugh at conspiracy theories instead of believing them? How do we raise awareness in a way that reaches beyond the Jewish community? How do we prevent anti-Jewish narratives from spreading in the first place?
But I also like to think things outside of the box: maybe we should use more humour and start spreading comic Jew conspiracy theories that diminish the influence of the real evil one? Should we say that Jews are behind all fruit salads in the world because they want all people to be healthy? Or Jews are Jews behind stand-up comedy shows because Jews want people to laugh and enjoy life? I am afraid that constantly rooting for the usual solutions leads to the expected outcomes. What if we start doing something unorthodox and creative instead?
Finding a Way Forward
For people who feel overwhelmed by antisemitism on social media, I don’t have easy answers. Instead, I can only share how I deal with the emotional side of my work. I often try to understand why people spread hate in the first place—whether they grew up in environments where hate was normalized, lack a proper eduction or were never given the chance to question what they repeat.
Asking these questions doesn’t excuse bad behavior, but it helps me stop seeing people as just “stupid” and start seeing how often they are shaped by systems that encourage bias.
This perspective gives me a bit more comfort when facing such harsh material. I don’t claim to know how to break these cycles. I agree that policies and detection systems are necessary, but I wonder if relying on the same old solutions holds back new ideas. Sometimes, I think about trying more creative approaches, like humor or satire, to undermine the power of conspiracy theories. These are still just questions for me—not answers, but I feel it’s vital to keep asking them.