Social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram are introducing young audiences to antisemitic ideas according to research carried out by anti-racism campaign group Hope not Hate.

A report published today by Hope not Hate found significant levels of antisemitism were easily accessible across every social media platform it investigated.

Research also found that during the pandemic, Google searches in the UK for the antisemitic conspiracy theory “New World Order” reached their highest level for 15 years in March 2020.

The report, entitled Anti-Semitism in the Digital Age: Online Anti-Semitic Hate, Holocaust Denial, Conspiracy Ideologies and Terrorism in Europe, also revealed forums on Reddit which are known for hosting conspiracies containing antisemitic tropes, grew by 500,000 users between February and November 2020.

 The group also recorded millions of results on Instagram for hashtags mentioning the New World Order and the Illuminati as well as explicitly antisemitic hashtags such as #JewWorldOrder.

 The research which was also carried out with Germany-based anti-hate group the Amadeu Antonio Foundation and Swedish anti-hate group the Expo Foundation, found that during the pandemic social media platforms were responsible for often “amplifying” content that was antisemitic through algorithms. 

The majority of users on Instagram are aged between 13 and 34 while 69 per cent of users on Tik Tok are between 16 and 24 years old.

Joe Mulhall, head of research at Hope Not Hate, said: “The reality is that a lack of action from technology platforms has not only introduced people to hate speech but has now created online spaces where antisemitism is allowed to flourish with tragic and long-lasting effects, leaving Jewish communities exposed to the risk of terrorism.”

He said : "It is simply astounding that despite 10 years of attempts to eradicate hate speech, we were able to find antisemitism on every social media platform we investigated.

“While social media companies have been struggling to get their act together, a new generation of social media users have been introduced to antisemitic ideas they would be unlikely to encounter elsewhere."

While TikTok and Instagram were found to be introducing younger audiences to antisemitism through meme's and hashtags the most extreme and violent examples of antisemitic content were found on platforms such as Telegram, Parler and 4chan.

Telegram, a channel which is home to content broadcasting the New World Order conspiracy theory as well as Holocaust denial and white nationalist propaganda has grown by 90,000 followers since its inception in February 2021.

A spokesperson for Facebook said: “Antisemitism is completely unacceptable and we don’t allow it anywhere on Instagram.

“We’ve always removed attacks against people based on their religion, and last year we made important updates to our policies, to remove any content that denies or distorts the Holocaust, as well as more implicit hate speech, such as harmful stereotypes that Jewish people control the world."

The spokesperson added: “We’ll continue to work with partners like Hope Not Hate, while developing new ways to remove hateful content and block harmful hashtags more quickly.”

A TikTok spokesperson said “We will keep strengthening our tools for fighting antisemitic content and welcome the opportunity to work with Hope Not Hate, as we already do with many others around the world, to understand evolving trends and help us to regularly evaluate and improve our policies and enforcement processes.”