SHARE
SHARE
Within 48 hours, the use of slurs and violent speech against Jewish and Muslim communities on 4chan and other unmoderated platforms grew by nearly 500%
Warning: This analysis contains highly offensive and potentially triggering language. Where possible, slur words are marked with asterisks, but in cases where that may make the content unclear, offensive language is cited.
Whenever there’s conflict, particularly horrific acts of violence, impacted communities across the globe experience a rise in hate speech, hate incidents, and the possibility of hate-driven terrorism, often by single actors. In the wake of the devastation in Israel and Gaza over the last week, extremists and hate-mongers have taken to online spaces to target Jews and Muslims alike. Both of these communities are frequent targets for acts of violence and hate propaganda globally, and the rise in incidents unfortunately isn’t surprising, but the scale of growth over the last week is alarming.
According to data collected by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) from the unregulated platform 4chan, known for its bigoted forums, the use of explicit antisemitic and anti-Muslim slurs, along with calls to kill both groups, increased from 511 to 2,959 instances between October 6 and October 8, a staggering 479 percent increase. On October 9 and 10, the hatred showed no signs of slowing down, with the use of slurs and violent speech surfacing in 2,537 instances and 2,550 instances, respectively.
GPAHE chose to spotlight 4chan due to its longstanding connection to racially-motivated and antisemitic mass shootings, such as the racist Buffalo murders in 2022. We also looked at Gab, Odyssey, and Bitchute. Across 4chan, Gab, Odysee, and Bitchute, antisemitic and anti-Muslim posts went from 618 to 3466 from October 6 to October 8, demonstrating a 461% increase. While this is a narrow search that won’t capture every conceivable slur, the data demonstrates how quickly hate proliferates against targeted communities during times of conflict.
4chan
Antisemitic slurs and calls for violence went from 484 instances on October 6 to 2,626 on October 8, increasing nearly five-fold. Anti-Muslim slurs and calls for violence went from 27 instances to 333 in the same time frame, increasing 11-fold. And users continued their slew of hateful and violent speech in the following days. On October 9 and 10, antisemitic hate and violent messages were steady at 2,238 and 2,283 instances, respectively. Anti-Muslim hate also stayed consistent, with 299 and 267 instances in the same timeframe. The difference in these numbers may reflect the generally high level of antisemitic hate from the considerable number of neo-Nazis found on 4chan.
It’s clear from the messages on 4chan that commenters have a strong hatred for both groups, expressing their glee at the “raghead v kik*” conflict, and with more Muslims and Jews dying, “everyone else on the planet wins” and that it’s a “win-win for whites.”
Phrases with recent popularity mirror the violently racist “TND” (“Total N***** Death”) slogan often used by people on 4chan, such as “TKD” (“Total Kik* Death”) and “Total Muzzie (Muslim) Death.” Similarly, users are calling for more violence through comments like “Death to kik*s. Death to tel-aviv. Death to Israel,” and “die for me infidel” when discussing Muslims.
Gab
Extreme antisemitism and calls to kill Jews on Gab totalled 459 instances between October 6 and October 11. Instances went from nine to 185 instances between October 6 and October 8, demonstrating a 1955% increase. In the days following, there were 180 instances on October 9, 52 on October 10, and 16 on October 11. Some of the speech we found on Gab included users hoping that Arab countries “bomb the living fuck out of” the “bloodthirsty KI*e bastards.” A total of 22 instances of extreme anti-Muslim hate speech and calls for violence were found on Gab. Instances went from zero to nine from October 6 to October 8. From October 7 to October 8, instances went up from two to nine, demonstrating a 350% increase. In the days following, seven were recorded on October 9, two on October 10, and two on October 11. Comments include calling Palestinians a group of “raghead terrorists,” calling Muslims “inbred dogs,” and saying anyone who felt sympathy for them are “kissing Muzzie ass.”
Bitchute
A total of 1059 instances of antisemitism were found over this six-day period. Bitchute saw a large increase in extreme antisemitism and calls for violence, going from 70 to 229 instances from October 6 to October 8, demonstrating a 227% increase. In the days following, 193 instances were recorded on October 9, 216 on October 10, and 174 on October 11. Comments included “Fuck the Jews and their goyim traitor slaves!,” and “kill every fucking jew . kill the U.S. JEWS AND EVERY POLITICIAN K**E ALIVE,” GPAHE also found 21 instances of Anti-Muslim speech on Bitchute. Instances went up from zero to four from October 6 to October 7, and then again up to eight on October 10. From October 7 to October 8, instances showed a 100% increase. Some anti-Muslim comments included calling Muslims “subhuman spam monkeys” who are “living garbage.” This was followed by the user looking forward to more Muslims deaths, saying “when Israel is doing (sic) killing your raghead friends, Iran is next, then you are fucking dead, like the animals you serve.” A similar comment directed at another user said that “Israel will kill your raghead friends, then they will kill your Persian friends, then bitch, it will be time to rid the world of you.”
Odysee
328 instances of extreme antisemitism and calls for violence were found on Odysee. From October 6 to October 8, the amount of instances recorded went from 25 to 74, demonstrating a 196% increase. In the days following, it fell back down to 47 on October 9 and 14 on October 10. On October 11, it shot back up to 92 – the highest recorded number over this six-day period. Comments include “disgusting ki*es get the rope.” There were a total of 16 recorded instances of extreme anti-Muslim hate and calls for violence over the six-day period, going from three to seven instances between October 6 and 8, demonstrating a 133% increase. These numbers went back down to two on October 9, one on October 10, and two on October 11. Users made statements saying that they weren’t “pro raghead” and saying that the “only member of congress who stands against Israel is a sandni**er who hates whites.” One user was explicit in their call for violence, saying “Death to Arabs and Jews.”
Predictably, hate crimes against both Jews and Muslims are rising, with CNN reporting that there were at least 100 antisemitic incidents in France since the weekend and reports of incidents against Muslims in multiple countries.
The amount of online hate spreading in the wake of the unspeakable loss of families, friends, and homes is deplorable but reflects the rising tide of extremism the world is currently facing. And it’s not just on unregulated platforms like 4chan. On October 11, the EU warned both Meta and X/Twitter to remove terrorist content and disinformation related to the events in the Middle East within 24 hours. Tech companies must follow their own policies and act immediately to deplatform violence-inspiring content to protect marginalized communities.
Editor’s note: This story was updated on Oct 17 to include analyses of Gab, Bitchute, and Odysee. On October 13, we corrected the percentage increase of slurs and calls for violence on 4Chan to 479%, a previous version had 579%.
