Antisemitic 'ZOG' conspiracy content soared 300% during Iran war - report

Online content promoting the antisemitic "Zionist Occupied Government" (ZOG) conspiracy theory nearly tripled during the 2026 Iran war, according to a new report by Fighting Online Antisemitism (FOA).

The findings suggest that the conflict fueled a sharp rise in online hate built around the longstanding antisemitic trope that Jews secretly control governments and other powerful institutions.

"ZOG" draws on old antisemitic theories about Jewish control of governments, like the fabricated "Protocols of the Elders of Zion." In its modern context, it claims that particularly the governments of Western nations, like the U.S., are secretly controlled by Jews or by Zionists, who instigate wars, broad-scale immigration and other perceived ills to further their own interests.

FOA examined two 38-day periods earlier this year: Jan. 21-Feb. 27, 2026, and the wartime period from Feb. 28 through April 2026.

It found that conspiracy posts surged by 217.6% after the war began, while ZOG-related content accounted for 63% of all conspiracy posts, up from 49% during the baseline period.

The report also found that posts containing ZOG references received twice as many likes and 10 times more shares during the war than before the conflict.

The report found that shadow-government and anti-regime conspiracy narratives containing antisemitic tropes maintained a "steady, fragmented baseline" before the war.

Following the outbreak of hostilities, however, conspiracy content "exploded" to 3,138 posts, with ZOG-related content rising to 1,977 posts.

“This increase highlights how the geopolitical crisis functioned as a direct volume multiplier specifically for ZOG-related content across the monitored networks,” the FOA said in an official statement.

FOA also reported that online searches for terms such as "Zionists," "Mossad" and "Jewish control" surged within 48 hours of the (Iran) war's outbreak in late February.

The U.S. and Israeli militaries eliminated Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and dozens of senior Iranian officials during the opening strikes of the war on Feb. 28. The precision of Israeli intelligence in locating Iran's leadership, the report said, fueled renewed antisemitic conspiracy theories online.

The organization also concluded that major social media platforms responded inadequately to the surge in antisemitic content, specifically identifying violations on Meta and 𝕏.

FOA criticized Meta, assessing that “its enforcement remains ineffective,” reportedly due to a major loophole that only prohibits ZOG references that are “clearly” used as a proxy for Jews. The organization argued that contemporary antisemitism is often repackaged as anti-Zionist rhetoric while recycling traditional antisemitic themes, including claims of Jewish world domination.

“This structural flaw explains why Meta’s automated systems failed to remove 70% of the reported content, exposing a severe gap between corporate rhetoric and actual enforcement,” FOA assessed.

Looking ahead, FOA urged online platforms to prioritize verified civil society organizations and rely more on human moderators than automated systems. It also called on platforms to eliminate financial incentives that reward the spread of viral hate content.

FOA concluded that the report “demonstrates the adaptability of contemporary antisemitism.”

“Rather than relying exclusively on traditional forms of hate speech, antisemitic narratives increasingly embed themselves within broader political debates, attaching themselves to discussions of foreign policy, national sovereignty, institutional trust, and international conflict,” the organization stated.

“Geopolitical crises, like the US-Israel-Iran conflict, act as catalysts that rapidly unite fragmented extremist communities around this framework. Ultimately, this process mainstreams fringe neo-Nazi rhetoric, weaponizing legitimate foreign policy debates to drive systemic antisemitism online,” FOA concluded.

Earlier this month, researchers at the German University of Duisburg-Essen launched a digital platform designed to combat Holocaust denial and online antisemitism, both of which have surged worldwide since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.