The Online Hate Prevention Institute (OHPI) documented a significant surge of online hate speech, glorification of violence, and antisemitic conspiracy theories in relation to the shooting outside the Sons of Jacob synagogue in Belleville, Ontario, during Erev Yom Kippur services. One police officer, Constable Jeff Smith, was injured during the attack while protecting the community as congregants took cover inside, and there were no further injuries.
The institute told The Jerusalem Post that its monitoring across platforms—including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, X, Gab, TikTok, 4chan's /pol/, and Telegram—has captured 110 items of antisemitic content so far, with more items continuing to be added ahead of a detailed report scheduled for release in the coming days.
The flagged content included posts celebrating the shooting and expressing regret that no worshippers were injured. On 4chan's Political Incorrect forum /pol/, users described the attack as beautiful and complained that no Jews were killed or injured, with some suggesting the lack of casualties indicated a Jewish scheme or a false flag operation orchestrated by Israel's intelligence service, Mossad. Similar false flag claims and conspiracy theories blaming Israel, Mossad, or the Jewish community itself appeared across X, Facebook, and YouTube, with some users alleging the attack was a Zionist psyop or an inside job. Other flagged posts on X glorified the attacker as based, while YouTube comments included Holocaust references, such as stating that the painter was right.
The institute pointed out that these narratives closely mirror propaganda strategies observed following previous synagogue attacks in Melbourne, the Bondi Beach attack, and incidents in London. It noted that such conspiracy frameworks are particularly prominent following attacks instigated by Iran as part of wider foreign information warfare strategies.
'This is not just an attack on the Jewish community'
Concluding its preliminary report, the institute stressed that these findings represent "just a fraction of the content the Online Hate Prevention Institute has collected since the attack." The watchdog warned that "this is not just an attack on the Jewish community, it is an attack on religious freedom and on the values Canada and Australia hold dear." Noting that the documented material "seeks to celebrate the attack, glorify efforts to murder Jews, deny that attacks on Jews are real, and blame the victims," the institute emphasized that these items "are all part of a growing narrative positioning Jews as collectively responsible for the vilification and violence inflicted upon them."
Furthermore, the watchdog cautioned that "this narrative is fed and exacerbated by social media systems that thrive on conflict and conspiracy theories, and leveraged by foreign actors," concluding that "rather than the unity and empathy we might expect, we have hate, radicalization, and violent extremism" and that "governments cannot afford to separate efforts to protect physical safety from efforts to combat growing online threats."
'Allowing such content on social media is a choice'
Dr. Andre Oboler, CEO of OHPI, condemned the responses to the attack, in a statement to the Post, saying, "When a place of worship is targeted with violence, we expect the impacted community to be met with empathy and support. When the community is Jewish, instead we see celebration, glorification of the violence, justifications for the attack, and blaming of the victims. We also see conspiracy theories accusing the Jewish community, Israel, or Mossad of carrying out the attack for sinister purposes. Some have become so infected by antisemitic propaganda that the very idea of Jews, or Israelis, being victims is intolerable to them. In their minds, they have already stripped Jews of their humanity, and we know what follows. Allowing such content on social media is a choice.
"In January 2025, Meta made the choice to allow more of it when they turned off their automated filters for hate speech. X has been a problem since Musk took it over. It's time governments stepped up and regulated the platforms to stop hate and toxicity from spreading in society."