EXCLUSIVE: X Algorithm Feeds Antisemitic Content to Israel Skeptics

• The Israel-Hamas war has been a catalyst for antisemitism on Elon Musk’s X

• Anti-Israel users gravitate toward posts villainizing “the Jews” and defending violence against them

• X’s algorithm specifically brings them this content to profit from audience engagement

The scoop

The social media platform X, meant to be a beacon of free speech, connects users skeptical of Israel to a vast movement of antisemitism and pro-terrorist content fueled by war in the Middle East, according to an analysis by Upward News.

Before billionaire Elon Musk acquired Twitter, now X, the platform censored numerous accounts promoting extremist views. Now, X’s algorithm notices that pro-Palestine users are interested in such content and sends it to their personal feeds, Upward News learned by creating test accounts.

Antisemitism on social media has skyrocketed in the year since the Israel-Hamas war began. A July report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) found that far-right users on X dramatically boosted their engagement after leaning into anti-Zionist sentiment.

The algorithm suggests posts based on popularity with other users, revealing more evidence of this ideological connection — a hatred that knows no partisan boundaries.

The tests by Upward News showed that users who follow an assortment of prominent figures and organizations that criticize Israel, such as Students for Justice in Palestine and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), may receive a flood of posts in their “For You” pages explicitly attacking Jews as a group.

The algorithm promoted posts to Upward News pushing the idea of malicious Jewish conspiracies controlling the music industry, pornography sites, local governments, and political leaders.

One thread of posts described a “secret relationship between Hip Hop and Jews” and referenced rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs after he was accused of sex trafficking and rape.

Other posts showing up on the feeds mocked Jewish suffering during the Holocaust and Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 massacre in Israel.

X’s users are overwhelmingly young people, who are statistically more pro-Palestine and thus likely to be targeted with this content, and negatively influenced by it.

Moreover, this pipeline of radicalization also links consumers to Islamist propaganda that glorifies terrorism and violent martyrdom. Several accounts shared what appeared to be official videos from groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

Content from the verified account “Suppressed News” frequently appeared, including a video of a Palestinian “martyr” who died fighting Israel. Another of its posts praised Hamas “freedom fighters” while showing footage of them holding small Israeli children hostage.

The radicalization pipeline

The algorithm considers other users’ preferences in its recommendations, along with factors such as the relevance of a topic. Part of why X gives extreme material to pro-Palestine users is because, to some degree, that content is popular with them.

X’s Help Center explains that “posts liked by those in your network, and accounts followed by those in your network” are part of what shapes a user’s homepage. A study by the marketing firm Foundation noted that the algorithm also factors in what “people who like similar posts to you interacted with.”

The results of Upward News’ tests show the extremist trends that the platform has detected among Palestine supporters — which it exploits in order to keep them hooked as consumers.

The press team at X did not respond to two inquiries sent in the past week.

Upward News created test accounts using separate email addresses, IP addresses, and devices. The accounts were set to exclude personal information that could influence the algorithm, leaving only birth dates that indicated users in their twenties.

Upward News then followed more than a dozen political figures and organizations that criticize Israel and liked similar posts. All likes were removed after testing due to ethical considerations.

The platform’s disturbing recommendations cannot be attributed to a single account Upward News followed or that account’s followers, but rather the combined pro-Palestine network influencing the algorithm during the tests.

The test accounts only liked and followed more moderate content on the homepage, such as posts about Israel’s military tactics in Gaza or protests in the US. They avoided engaging with any user considered far-right or neo-Nazi, or terrorist propaganda, but X kept suggesting this material anyway.

The wave of content included a video in which white nationalist Lucas Gage rants about “Jewish power” and repeatedly wishes violence on people who are friendly to Jews.

“There’s no such thing as antisemitism,” Gage says in the video. “It’s bullshit. Antisemitism is when someone resists Jewish supremacy … you’re an antisemite if you don’t f***ing bow down to Jewish power.”

“You should be attacking every Jew as a Jew,” he says. “You should be attacking them hard as f***.”

Gage goes on to describe Jews as “a Satanic rat-faced tribe that does horrific things to the f***in’ planet.”

The platform repeatedly promoted far-right influencer Jake Shields, whose posts pushed a classic trope suggesting that Jews deserve the persecution they have historically experienced — and claimed that “rape is a major part of their religion.”

Shields and Gage are among those who gained a massive following on X since last October, according to the ADL.

Another post featured a video of Nick Fuentes, who is known for praising Adolf Hitler and calling for a “holy war” against Jews.

Why it matters

The spread of extreme content on X is often blamed on Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter in 2022 with a promise to turn it into a “digital town square” and bring an end to politicized censorship.

Musk began fighting for X's reputation after the ADL and other groups demanded stronger action against offensive content, leading him to take legal action over the accusations. His team claims to be cracking down on antisemitic content.

The debate about free speech on X has become complicated, including for conservative and anti-establishment figures who have newfound freedom on the platform.

Musk’s approach allows them to drive public discussions many see as legitimate. However, X also makes a profit by not only tolerating but systematically amplifying messages that most Americans consider deeply harmful.