Surge in Online Hate Speech Amid Israel-Hamas Conflict

During the recent Israel-Hamas conflict, there was a notable spike in hate speech across various social media platforms, particularly X. The hashtag #HitlerWasRight appeared on X, commonly paired with calls for violent actions against Jews. Similarly, the hashtag #DeathtoMuslims also gained considerable traction and was widely shared. The New York Times reviewed the surge in antisemitic and Islamophobic hate speech online, noting that the levels were unprecedented, with millions of explicitly violent posts observed on X, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Researchers and academics who monitor social media expressed that they had not witnessed such high increases in hate speech before.