Chief Rabbi warns ‘tidal wave of anti-Jewish invective’ on X fuelling violence against community

The agreement follows months of pressure from Ofcom and civil society groups, including the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), which has tracked antisemitic content online following attacks on British Jews.

On Friday, CCDH published new findings detailing the torrent of antisemitic abuse that spread on X after the Golders Green stabbing attack, including posts directed at Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis.

The Chief Rabbi said: “The horrifying tidal wave of anti-Jewish invective on social media, and particularly on X, contributes directly to acts of abuse and violence on our streets, because when platforms fail to act, they create a permissive environment in which hatred flourishes. Unfortunately, meaningful action to tackle this problem is long overdue and the consequences are being deeply felt."

Researchers at CCDH found a surge of conspiratorial and antisemitic posts after two Jewish men were stabbed in north London on April 29, including messages supporting the attack, Holocaust denial and calls for Jews to be deported.

Comments included: “Less Jews in the world, the better! One step closer to peace” and “This is the treatment Jews really deserve.”

According to CCDH, 100 posts promoting the conspiracy theory that Israel, Jews or Mossad orchestrated the stabbing had been viewed a quarter of a million times by early May.

Many claimed the attack, which left two visibly Jewish men in hospital with stab wounds, was a “false flag” operation or “psyop” staged by Israel.

Posts included: “typical Jewish behaviour, attack themselves and blame others, I can imagine Israel is behind and financing it”; “Golders Green is a psyop to bring this in, to stop us highlighting that the Jews are behind everything including bringing the Muslims here!! They all gotta Go!”; “Another Mossad operation in Golders Green to gain sympathy for Israel”; and “Later they find out it’s staged attack by Jews since they are pathological liars.

Prominent members of the Jewish community were among those targeted. One Jewish journalist who shared footage of the attack was told: “Good. F*** these godamn k*kes. It’s about time the chickens came home to roost” and “the treatment Jews really deserve”.

Another targeting a Jewish journalist said “Jews are responsible for the Muslim invasion of the west.”

The Chief Rabbi was also targeted after condemning the attack. Users replied: “stabbing, killing Jews anywhere is justified… can happen” and “way less than what’s equal to what Zionist animals are committing in Lebanon and Gaza. These acts are highly encouraged for every sane person in the world”.

Another comment directed at Sir Ephraim said: “all Jews have pedophilia in their DNA. So f*** you sir.”

A Jewish politician was told: “Everyone would be much better off if you gassed yourself” and another received a comment that stated Jews were the UK’s “Biggest problem, the problem from which most other problems stem.”

Several posts used antisemitic imagery, including caricatures of Orthodox Jewish men and conspiracies relating to the Talmud.

None of the posts identified by CCDH carried community notes, X’s crowdsourced fact-checking feature, which CCDH said suggested the system was “failing to address antisemitic conspiracies”.

It comes despite Elon Musk, who purchased X when it was known as Twitter, previously claiming the community notes service had received “maximum resources and attention” and that “if somebody tries to push a falsehood like Holocaust denial or something like that, they can immediately be corrected”.

Elon Musk (Photo by PATRICK PLEUL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)POOL/AFP via Getty Images

CCDH has accused X of failing to enforce its own policies on hateful and violent speech, which prohibit “Inciting, promoting or encouraging others to commit acts of violence or harm”, “expressing desire for harm” and “Targeting individuals or groups with content that references forms of violence or violent events where a protected category was the primary target or victims, where the intent is to harass, including the holocaust.”

The new measures X committed to on Friday will be monitored.

Oliver Griffiths, Ofcom’s Online Safety Group Director, said his team would “monitor closely” whether X implements stronger protections.

“We have evidence that terrorist content and illegal hate speech is persisting on some of the largest social media sites. We are challenging them to tackle the problem and expect them to take firm action. This is of particular importance in the UK following a number of recent hate motivated crimes suffered by the country’s Jewish community.

“These commitments are a step forward, but there’s a lot more to do. We’re grateful for the support we’ve received from civil society and other expert organisations to scrutinise these platforms, and we’ll continue working with them extensively to drive forward changes for people in the UK,” he said.

Danny Stone, Chief Executive of the Antisemitism Policy Trust, said: “I welcome this action from Ofcom. We have called on the regulator to be bolder in challenging social media platforms to tackle the hate being spread across their network, and this is a good start.

“There will be a lot more to do, though. X is failing in so many regards to tackle open racism on its platform. We know where this online harm leads, and so for the sake and safety of all of us in Britain, I hope Ofcom will hold X to account for what it has promised the regulator it will do.”

The new measures were also welcomed by Adam Hadley, the chief executive of Tech Against Terrorism, and Iman Atta, the director of anti-Islamophobia group, Tell MAMA, who said: “The updated targets for takedowns, alongside a commitment to submit regular performance data, signal a more accountable approach and the promise of an improved relationship with stakeholders is one we cautiously welcome.

“We are particularly encouraged by the indication that action will be taken against terrorist organisations proscribed in the UK that continue to facilitate or spread hatred and extremism. This sends an important message that no platform or body operating in this country is above scrutiny. However, while these commitments are meaningful, the test is not what is promised, but what is delivered.”