Antisemitism is being amplified online for profit – we can’t tackle Jew hatred without removing this poison

Police in Golders Green following the attack on 29th Apr, 2026 (ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy)

4 min read01 June

In the immediate aftermath of the stabbing attack in Golders Green, I found myself doing something I had never done before: standing in my home in north-west London, in the heart of one of Britain’s largest Jewish communities, I wondered whether I should change how I dressed before walking to the shops so that I looked less visibly Jewish.

That calculation no longer feels unusual. In recent years, antisemitism has become woven into everyday life. Many Jews now think twice before displaying visible signs of their identity, posting online, or speaking openly about antisemitism.

There is a growing sense of fatalism around this, a belief that nothing can be done. And perhaps most dangerously, that governments and institutions are still failing to confront one of the central forces accelerating this crisis.

There have always been antisemites. What has changed over the last 20 years, however, is the evolution of our information ecosystem, with social media platforms becoming fertile ground for the viral spread of antisemitism and extremist radicalisation, particularly among young people.

Metropolitan Police figures show that one in five terror arrests now involve children, up from one in 20 just five years ago. At the same time, in a recent poll, only one in four people aged 18 to 24 and just under a third of people aged 25 to 39 agreed that Britain would be much worse off if Jews were driven out of the country.

The Online Safety Act is supposed to address this problem, giving Ofcom the power to regulate how illegal hate and extremist content spreads online. The question so far has been whether the regulator would force platforms to act on antisemitic content and the systems that amplify it.

All users are affected by this, but particularly young people, who are growing up immersed in an online environment saturated with antisemitic conspiracy theories, dehumanising narratives and extremist content. When these narratives are repeatedly surfaced, amplified and normalised online, they do not stay behind a screen. They shape culture, influence behaviour and affect what young people come to see as acceptable.

Our organisation has extensively documented how those platforms’ recommendation systems push users toward increasingly extreme material because outrage and division are profitable. Social media platforms are accelerating radicalisation at a speed and scale we have never seen before.

Last October, following the attack on the Heaton Park Synagogue, our researchers analysed how Jewish organisations and public figures were abused online after posting messages expressing grief and horror.

Disrupting the constant algorithmic amplification of Jew hatred is a vital first step

We found that prominent British Jewish individuals and organisations were inundated with antisemitic abuse. Every account analysed received several responses which included severe instances of antisemitism or calls for further violence. Despite clearly violating X’s own rules on violent and hateful conduct and being reported to the platform, the posts remained live.

Following this research and sustained campaigning by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), Ofcom opened a review into how X handled illegal hate content. Last week, the regulator announced that the platform had committed to introducing stronger protections and faster response times for illegal hate and terror content in the UK, alongside new reporting and accountability measures.

That is an important step, and evidence that sustained pressure from CCDH and other civil society organisations can force action. But these commitments will only matter if Ofcom is willing to enforce them. If platforms continue to design systems that reward outrage, conspiracy theories and dehumanising abuse, the problem will persist.

British Jews should not have to live in fear simply for existing openly as Jews. We cannot allow this atmosphere of danger and insecurity to be the new normal. While there is not one simple solution to antisemitism, disrupting the constant algorithmic amplification of Jew hatred is a vital first step.

Our government presented the Online Safety Act as a turning point for tackling illegal hate online. If these promises are not rigorously monitored and backed by real consequences for failure, platforms will quickly conclude that compliance remains optional. Ofcom cannot afford to fail this test.

Jemma Levene is Chief operating officer at the Center for Countering Digital Hate