Tel Aviv โ Viral denial and conspiratorial narratives targeting Jews on social media are increasingly echoing the core tactics of Holocaust denial and distortion, according to new research released by CyberWell ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The report finds that in the immediate aftermath of violent attacks against Jews and Israelis, online discourse frequently shifts from reporting and empathy to denial, deflection, and conspiracy. These narratives often question whether attacks occurred at all, dispute documented evidence, or accuse Jewish victims of orchestrating violence against themselves. CyberWell says these patterns mirror the mechanisms historically used to deny or distort the Holocaust.
CyberWell analyzed online reactions to antisemitic violence from October 7, 2023 through the past year. According to the report, denialism has evolved into a mass digital phenomenon that spreads rapidly across platforms during moments of heightened public attention.
โBy analyzing the online response to the repeat violence targeting the Jewish community across the world in the last two years, this research reveals an important development in current Jew-hatred,โ said Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor, founder and chief executive officer of CyberWell. โDenialism is being repackaged for the masses online.โ
She said contemporary denial narratives draw directly from the framework of Holocaust denial. โViolence against Jews is denied, responsibility is inverted, and conspiracies replace facts,โ Cohen Montemayor said. โWhether it is the Holocaust or October 7 or other recent violent attacks against Jews, denial of well documented attacks against Jews is meant to dehumanize them further by erasing their victimhood.โ
The report is based on a dataset of more than 300 pieces of online content documented through CyberWellโs real time alert system and shared with major social media platforms. The content, collected across Meta platforms including Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube, generated nearly 14 million views and more than 500,000 user interactions.
Researchers identified two dominant and interconnected narratives. The first is outright denial, in which attacks are described as fabricated, exaggerated, or staged. The second is what CyberWell terms Conspiratorial Self Victimization, or CSV, a trend in which Jews are accused of staging or provoking violence against themselves to gain sympathy, political leverage, or media attention. The report notes that CSV is rooted in longstanding antisemitic tropes portraying Jews as manipulative and deceptive.
According to CyberWell, 88 percent of the content analyzed included claims of Conspiratorial Self Victimization, often alongside explicit denial. In many cases, attacks were labeled as hoaxes while simultaneously framed as coordinated false flag operations.
Nearly half of the content reviewed, 47.4 percent, related directly to the October 7 massacre, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. More than two years after the attacks, denialist and conspiratorial narratives surrounding October 7 continue to circulate widely online. Despite extensive documentation of the violence, only 17.8 percent of such content was removed after being reported.
The report argues that these narratives function in ways comparable to Holocaust denial by erasing Jewish victimhood and reframing victims as perpetrators. Together, denial and CSV normalize suspicion toward Jewish suffering, undermine accountability for violence, and contribute to further radicalization.
Platform level analysis found that X generated the highest volume and engagement for denialist and conspiratorial content. Across all platforms studied, enforcement was inconsistent. Fewer than one in five posts were removed after being reported, even when content appeared to violate existing platform policies.
TikTok was identified as a partial exception. Its Community Guidelines explicitly ban denial of well documented violent events and Conspiratorial Self Victimization narratives. Even so, CyberWell found that enforcement remained limited and below the platformโs average removal rates for antisemitic content, pointing to systemic challenges across the social media ecosystem.
The report highlights what CyberWell describes as a critical policy gap. While most major platforms explicitly prohibit Holocaust denial and distortion, denial and CSV related to contemporary antisemitic violence are addressed less consistently, allowing such narratives to spread during periods of vulnerability.
CyberWell is an independent nonprofit organization that uses artificial intelligence tools to monitor antisemitism online in English and Arabic. Its work is guided by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism, expanded to include emerging tropes not explicitly covered. The organization indexes verified content in an open database and works with platforms through reporting, education, and real time alerts to improve policy enforcement.
As International Holocaust Remembrance Day approaches, the report underscores how historical patterns of antisemitism are being adapted for the digital age. CyberWellโs findings suggest that without stronger and more consistent moderation, denial of antisemitic violence will continue to evolve, reinforcing old hatreds through new technologies and global reach.
