TEL AVIV, Israel (Press Release) – CyberWell, a nonprofit and trusted partner of Meta (Facebook, Instagram and Threads), TikTok and YouTube combating online antisemitism, alerted social media platforms during the final week of June after identifying content exploiting the 2026 FIFA World Cup to spread antisemitic conspiracy theories about Jewish control, invoke the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and falsely claim that Argentine football star Lionel Messi is Jewish or controlled by Jews.
CyberWell identified dozens of World Cup-related antisemitic posts across Meta and X in English, Arabic and French, demonstrating how major international events continue to be exploited to spread longstanding antisemitic narratives. The content promoted conspiracy theories alleging that Jews secretly control FIFA, governments, the media, public opinion and global events, using the World Cup’s global visibility to reach broader audiences and delude the masses.
The most prominent narrative identified by CyberWell involved the spread of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the infamous antisemitic forgery historically used to promote false claims of Jewish domination and manipulation of world affairs. CyberWell identified dozens of Arabic-language posts on Meta during the tournament’s first week alone that invoked the Protocols in connection with the World Cup, presenting its antisemitic conspiracy theories as factual explanations for global events.
The posts claimed that Jews use sports and entertainment to distract societies, manipulate public opinion and conceal alleged control over world affairs. Users invoked the Protocols to reinforce stereotypes portraying Jews as secretive, manipulative and responsible for orchestrating global events.
Following Argentina’s victory over Algeria, posts targeting Lionel Messi falsely claimed that he is Jewish, controlled by Jews or benefiting from alleged Jewish influence over FIFA and the World Cup. The posts drew on the longstanding antisemitic trope that Jews secretly control institutions and manipulate outcomes from behind the scenes.
The findings reflect what CyberWell identifies as event-driven antisemitism, in which major cultural, political and sporting moments are exploited to amplify existing hate narratives. CyberWell documented similar conspiracy theories during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, demonstrating how global sporting events are repeatedly exploited to spread longstanding antisemitic myths.
CyberWell alerted social media platforms to the content, providing contextual analysis of the antisemitic narratives, relevant policy concerns and information to support enforcement.
“The World Cup commands a global stage of billions, and that visibility is exploited by those seeking to spread antisemitic conspiracy theories,” said CyberWell Founder and CEO Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor. “The targeting of Lionel Messi, the invocation of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and claims that Jews control FIFA all rely on the same idea: that Jewish people are the secret master manipulators of the world. When these narratives are repeatedly amplified on digital platforms, they reinforce this corrosive conspiracy theory as mainstream conversation, normalizing antisemitism and making the centuries-old hatred appear acceptable.”
A second recurring narrative held Jews collectively responsible for the conflict and ongoing strife in Gaza. In particular, many Arabic posts cited the fabricated text the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, claiming that sports and entertainment were used by Jews to deliberately distract the masses from violence. Many of the identified posts also conveyed indirect allegations of Jewish control through quotations from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, rather than through explicit references to Jews.
“This is precisely why contextual and historical expertise matters for effective content moderation and Trust and Safety enforcement,” added Cohen Montemayor. “Many of these posts do not explicitly mention Jews. Instead, they invoke antisemitic conspiracy theories through indirect references, for example by using the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a source used in the context of the World Cup to reinforce historically anti-Jewish narratives in the digital space. Without expertise in regional languages, cultural references and evolving hate narratives, harmful content will continue to remain online undetected. Effective moderation requires more than technology alone. Platforms must combine their enforcement capabilities with the linguistic, cultural and subject-matter expertise needed to identify emerging threats before they become normalized. This need becomes particularly sharp as platforms are moving to outsource most of their content moderation flows to AI.”
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Preceding provided by CyberWell