TEL AVIV, Israel – CyberWell, a nonprofit organization combating online antisemitism and a trusted partner of Meta, TikTok, and YouTube, has alerted major social media platforms after identifying dozens of antisemitic posts exploiting the 2026 FIFA World Cup to promote longstanding conspiracy theories about Jewish control of global affairs.
The organization documented content across Meta and X in English, Arabic, and French that falsely claimed Jews control FIFA, governments, the media, and world events. Some posts also falsely alleged that Argentine football star Lionel Messi is Jewish or controlled by Jews.
CyberWell reported the content during the final week of June, identifying what it describes as “event-driven antisemitism,” in which major cultural and sporting events are manipulated to amplify existing hate narratives to global audiences.
The organization noted that many of the identified posts invoked the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the infamous antisemitic forgery that falsely purports to reveal a Jewish conspiracy for world domination. Historians have long established that the document was fabricated in Tsarist Russia during the early twentieth century and has been used for decades to promote antisemitic propaganda around the world.
Ancient Conspiracies in Modern Spaces
According to CyberWell, the World Cup’s enormous international audience made it an attractive target for those seeking to mainstream antisemitic conspiracy theories.
The most prominent narrative identified involved Arabic language social media posts presenting the Protocols of the Elders of Zion as factual explanations for contemporary world events.
CyberWell documented dozens of such posts on Meta during the tournament’s opening week alone.
The content alleged that Jews secretly use sports and entertainment to distract societies, manipulate public opinion, and conceal their purported control over global institutions and governments.
Users repeatedly invoked themes originating from the Protocols to reinforce longstanding stereotypes portraying Jews as secretive manipulators operating behind major international events.
“The World Cup commands a global stage of billions, and that visibility is exploited by those seeking to spread antisemitic conspiracy theories,” said CyberWell Founder and Chief Executive Officer Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor.
“The targeting of Lionel Messi, the invocation of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and claims that Jews control FIFA all rely on the same idea: that Jewish people are the secret master manipulators of the world,” she said.
“When these narratives are repeatedly amplified on digital platforms, they reinforce this corrosive conspiracy theory as mainstream conversation, normalizing antisemitism and making the centuries old hatred appear acceptable.”
Lionel Messi Targeted Following Argentina’s Victory
CyberWell found that following Argentina’s victory over Algeria, Lionel Messi became the target of multiple antisemitic conspiracy theories circulating online.
Posts falsely claimed that Messi is Jewish, controlled by Jews, or receives preferential treatment because of alleged Jewish influence over FIFA and the World Cup.
The narratives relied upon longstanding antisemitic tropes alleging that Jews secretly manipulate institutions and engineer outcomes from behind the scenes.
CyberWell emphasized that these claims are not new. Rather, they represent contemporary adaptations of centuries old conspiracy theories that have historically been employed to demonize Jewish communities during periods of social and political tension.
The organization documented similar patterns of online antisemitism during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, demonstrating that major international sporting events are repeatedly exploited to disseminate hate narratives.
The Challenge of Contextual Moderation
CyberWell alerted social media platforms to the identified content while providing contextual analyses concerning the antisemitic narratives involved and potential policy violations.
The organization noted that many of the problematic posts avoided explicitly mentioning Jews while nevertheless communicating antisemitic ideas through coded language and historical references.
A second recurring narrative identified by CyberWell collectively blamed Jews for the conflict and continuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Many Arabic language posts alleged that Jews deliberately use sports and entertainment to distract global audiences from contemporary events. Rather than explicitly referring to Jewish communities, these posts frequently relied upon quotations and themes drawn from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion to communicate their message.
“This is precisely why contextual and historical expertise matters for effective content moderation and Trust and Safety enforcement,” Cohen Montemayor said.
“Many of these posts do not explicitly mention Jews. Instead, they invoke antisemitic conspiracy theories through indirect references, for example by using the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a source used in the context of the World Cup to reinforce historically anti-Jewish narratives in the digital space.”
She warned that without expertise in regional languages, cultural references, and evolving hate narratives, harmful content will continue remaining online undetected.
“Effective moderation requires more than technology alone,” she said. “Platforms must combine their enforcement capabilities with the linguistic, cultural and subject-matter expertise needed to identify emerging threats before they become normalized. This need becomes particularly sharp as platforms are moving to outsource most of their content moderation flows to AI.”
Combating Digital Antisemitism
CyberWell operates globally as an independent, technology based nonprofit organization combating antisemitism online. Its artificial intelligence technologies monitor social media platforms in English and Arabic for content promoting antisemitism, Holocaust denial, and incitement to violence against Jews and their allies.
The organization employs the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s Working Definition of Antisemitism when evaluating and cataloging content.
Its analysts review reported material and provide verified findings to platform moderators while maintaining what it describes as the world’s first open database documenting antisemitic social media posts.
CyberWell’s work reflects the growing challenges confronting social media companies as they attempt to identify and remove increasingly sophisticated forms of online hate speech. The organization’s latest findings demonstrate how rapidly antisemitic conspiracy theories can adapt themselves to contemporary events while preserving the same underlying narratives that have targeted Jewish communities for centuries.
For CyberWell, the exploitation of one of the world’s most watched sporting events serves as another reminder that combating online antisemitism requires both technological innovation and historical understanding.
The hatred may evolve with the headlines. Its underlying myths, however, remain tragically familiar.
