Is antisemitism surging against Jewish members of Congress on Facebook?

Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this story misidentified the political affiliation of one of the accountholders. The Congress member is an Independent.

Antisemitic harassment of Jewish members of Congress on Facebook has surged in recent months, increasing nearly fivefold amid a sharp rise in anti-Jewish sentiment across the country, according to a new report out May 8.

Anti-Defamation League researchers say they collected and analyzed antisemitic comments directed at 30 Jewish members of Congress with Facebook accounts – 27 Democrats, two Republicans and one Independent – between Jan. 1 and April 7.

The Facebook accounts that once got an average of 6.5 antisemitic comments per day began getting almost 30 per day starting in early February, the ADL report found.

The ADL blamed Meta’s recent decision to roll back its content moderation controls.

"These findings show that Meta taking its foot off the brakes allows more antisemitic vitriol against Jewish lawmakers, likely making its platforms more hostile to all Jewish users," said Jordan Kraemer, director of research for the ADL Center for Technology and Society.

In an emailed statement to USA TODAY, Meta disputed that claim, saying the ADL used a "flawed methodology" to present a "false narrative." Meta removes antisemitic content that violates its rules "when it's found," the company said.

In this case, only one of the comments cited in the ADL report was in violation and it will be removed, according to Meta.

"Our enforcement here has not changed,” the company said.

'Disconcerting' spike in antisemitic comments

As public figures, members of Congress are accustomed to hateful comments on their Facebook posts. But Rep. Brad Sherman, a Democrat from California, told USA TODAY he has noticed a “disconcerting” spike in antisemitic comments.

Along with Sens. Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer, Sherman is among the most frequent targets of antisemitism, according to the ADL report.

“All of these social media platforms have to decide how much intermediation to do,” Sherman said in an interview. “Meta in particular has shown they can reduce the amount of bigotry on Facebook and, having demonstrated that, they should do it and their advertisers should insist on it.”

Rep. David Kustoff, a Republican from Tennessee, the 13th most targeted Jewish member of Congress on Facebook, said the findings did not surprise him in light of rising antisemitism. 

“Antisemitic hate, harassment and bullying should not be tolerated online or in our national rhetoric,” he told USA TODAY.

Another top target, Rep. Brad Schneider, an Illinois Democrat, said antisemitism is rising "exponentially" on social media.

"Such vile hatred and bigotry should never be tolerated and actively rooted out," Schneider said. "Regrettably, Meta has instead turned a blind eye and is letting antisemitism fester and grow on its platforms."

Antisemitism incidents hit all-time high

The world has seen a historic surge in anti-Jewish sentiment since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel.

Antisemitic incidents in the United States hit a record high in the 12-month period from October 2023 to September 2024, the ADL reported last month. The number of incidents was the highest since the ADL started tracking antisemitism data in 1979.

Research has consistently singled out the powerful role social media plays in fomenting and spreading antisemitism. In recent months, major platforms, including Meta, have removed some moderation controls that curbed harmful content, shifting moderation to users and loosening content restrictions.

“The reality is this is a tradeoff,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at the time. “It means that we’re going to catch less bad stuff, but we’ll also reduce the number of innocent people’s posts and accounts that we accidentally take down.”

Around half of adults across the world hold antisemitic beliefs and deny facts about the Holocaust, ADL research has shown. The level of antisemitism has more than doubled since 2014, when ADL began measuring it.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, said Meta is shirking its responsibility to fight the rising tide of antisemitism, Islamophobia and other forms of extremism on its platforms.

“I deeply regretted Meta’s decision to essentially abandon content moderation, certainly more drastically than it needed to. I think social media has abdicated its responsibility for ridding platforms of hate speech and incitement to violence,” Blumenthal told USA TODAY in an interview. “Right now, social media has pretty much absolute immunity from any legal responsibility or accountability.”

This story has been updated to correct an error.