A single image can spread a lie around the world in seconds. A meme crafted to demean Jewish people can reach a teenager in Ohio, a college student in London, and a gamer in Sydney before they ever stop to question where it came from or whether it is true. Liked, shared, and stripped of context, antisemitic content can turn prejudice into entertainment, misinformation into “fact,” and hatred into something that feels normal. Antisemitism did not begin online, but the internet has given it unprecedented reach, speed, and anonymity, allowing old hatred to spread in new forms to new generations.

The technology may be new, but the hatred is not. Online platforms can revive centuries-old stereotypes, allowing antisemitic ideas to move quickly between communities, adapt to current events, and reach people who may not recognize the prejudice behind what they are seeing and sharing. Understanding how antisemitism spreads online is essential to recognizing it, challenging it, and refusing to help it spread.

Understanding How Hate Travels

Online antisemitism rarely announces itself. It hides in humor, irony, and code. Longstanding caricatures—such as the hook-nosed “puppet master” pulling the strings of banks, media, and governments—now circulate as cartoons and reaction images, repackaged for a generation fluent in memes.^[1] Coded language lets users signal contempt while slipping past moderators. Some of the most common symbols and codes include the derogatory use of the “juice box” emoji in comment sections to demonize Jewish people,^[2] triple parentheses placed around a name to mark someone as Jewish, veiled talk of “globalists” and shadowy financiers, and numeric shorthand borrowed from neo-Nazi movements.^[3] To the casual scroller, these posts might look like a joke, but to those in the know, they carry a far darker meaning.

Antisemitic content can also migrate from fringe spaces into mainstream online communities. The “happy merchant” meme, for example, was popularized on forums before becoming a nearly ubiquitous caricature of Jewish people in modern online white supremacist and antisemitic iconography.^[4] Influence magnifies the message further. When a public figure with millions of followers repeats an antisemitic trope—even as a joke or a “just asking questions” aside—the claim gains credibility no anonymous account could grant. Followers absorb the slander, the platform rewards the engagement, and imitators pile on. Researchers who track these episodes document measurable spikes in online hate and, at times, real-world harassment in the days that follow.^[5]

The New Machinery: Algorithms, Bots, and Artificial Intelligence

What sets the current moment apart is not the hatred itself but the machinery that spreads it. Platforms reward engagement, and outrage drives views. Content designed to provoke—often called “rage bait”—can be pushed toward users who never sought it out, drawing the curious viewer deeper into hostile communities.^[6] Automated accounts, or bots, multiply a single voice into an apparent crowd, game trending topics, and manufacture the illusion that a fringe slander is a widely held conviction.

Newer still is the role of generative artificial intelligence (AI). Text generators can produce antisemitic propaganda on demand, while image tools and “deepfakes” can fabricate convincing photographs and videos of events that never happened—such as a false quotation placed in a real leader’s mouth, a staged atrocity, or even a doctored screenshot passed off as breaking news. These forgeries exploit a deep human instinct to believe what we see. The scale is already measurable. In a dataset of 307 verified pieces of antisemitic content generated by artificial intelligence posted between January 2025 and February 2026, CyberWell found that 98.4 percent of the content appeared from June 2025 onward—a sudden surge rather than a slow climb. That content garnered more than 30 million views and 2.8 million user interactions. The posts that survived moderation tended to be the quietest: antisemitism framed as a joke, tucked behind a “satire” tag, or carried by a familiar stereotype rather than an open slur.^[7]

Two patterns deserve particular attention. First, content that justified or celebrated violence against Jewish people proved more than twice as likely to appear in AI-generated material as in ordinary user posts. Video-first platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube carried 79.2 percent of all this artificially generated content, and these convincing fakes travel quickly and quietly. The second pattern is even more concerning because much of this antisemitic content is built for a younger audience. For example, videos mocking the Holocaust are packaged as animated movie trailers, and conspiracy theories are set to catchy audio and slipped into video-game clips, which are engineered to reach children who are simply scrolling for entertainment.^[8]

Why We Cannot Scroll Past

Online antisemitism is more than a problem of media literacy because the lies are never spiritually neutral. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21), and the digital tongue reaches millions in an instant. The God of truth stands opposed to every lie, including fabricated slander against Jewish people—the very people He loves and has chosen for His purposes. Scripture calls us to reject falsehood and recognize that hatred also has a spiritual dimension. The apostle Paul reminds us that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers . . . against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

Technology may change, but believers are still called to recognize lies, resist hatred, and respond in a way that reflects the truth of God’s Word.

Throughout history, there have been seasons when Christians also spread the very slanders now resurfacing online, including blood libels (false and harmful antisemitic myths claiming Jewish people murder non-Jewish children and use their blood for religious rituals), financial conspiracy theories, and the charge of collective guilt for the death of Jesus. When these lies appear online, we should not simply scroll past them as though they are harmless. History shows that antisemitic rhetoric leads to consequences far beyond the screen, especially when hatred is repeated, normalized, and believed.

In 2022, the Anti-Defamation League documented 59 antisemitic incidents from October 11 through the end of the year that directly referenced Ye (formerly Kanye West), including harassment, vandalism, and assault.^[9] However, more recent trends show how decentralized online antisemitism has become. Anti-Jewish tropes are no longer amplified by only one celebrity or prominent account; influencers, content creators, and political commentators are now normalizing these ideas across different online communities.^[10] However, believers are called to speak “the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15), including when confronting lies directed against Jewish people.

Discern, Disrupt, and Declare Truth

We are not powerless against a rising tide of online hate. These three steps will equip us to respond.

First, discern. Learn to recognize the tropes, symbols, and coded phrases that carry antisemitic meaning. Approach viral claims with discernment before believing or sharing them. Recognizing antisemitic lies is the first step toward refusing to spread them, even unknowingly.

Second, disrupt. Report antisemitic content on the platforms where it appears, and decline to amplify it, even to condemn it, since outrage-sharing can feed the very system that rewards engagement. Where wisdom allows, speak a clarifying word to friends and family who encounter these claims offline, where trust runs deeper than any comment thread.

Third, declare truth. The apostle Paul instructs believers, “Laying aside falsehood, speak truth” (Ephesians 4:25). Correct false claims with reliable information, share resources that help others recognize antisemitic tropes, and refuse to pass along material that does not edify or build others up. Online discernment is not passive; it is one practical way we can refuse to participate in the spread of hatred.

The Coalition Against Antisemitism exists to help believers move from awareness to action. Our resource “How to Stand Against Antisemitism: Three Practical Steps” offers additional ways to listen and learn, engage and educate, and advocate for and stand alongside the Jewish community. Read it, share it, and put what you learn into practice. The same networks that spread antisemitic lies can also be used to speak truth, challenge hatred, and encourage others to stand with the Jewish community.