Iran-Linked Online Hate Campaign Targets Survivors of October 7 Nova Festival Massacre

A new report by the Fight Online Antisemitism (FOA) movement, published in the British Telegraph, reveals a coordinated digital hate campaign against survivors of the October 7 massacre at the Nova music festival. The campaign, allegedly orchestrated by thousands of fake accounts linked to Iran, aims to erase, distort, and justify the massacre by attacking survivors with racist, sexist, and hateful slurs. Social media platforms have largely failed to remove harmful posts, comments, and videos, allowing the campaign to escalate from bot-driven activity to real user participation.

The FOA report highlights that platforms like X (formerly Twitter) have become hubs for conspiracy theories and false flag accusations, while TikTok is flooded with harassment, antisemitic memes, and videos mocking survivors’ suffering. Survivors held hostage in Gaza, such as Noa Argamani and Avintan Or, have been personally targeted. Argamani, who was held captive for 245 days and released in a military operation, has been labeled with derogatory terms online. Similarly, Romi Gonen, another survivor who endured abuse during captivity, faces ongoing online attacks.

One of the report’s featured testimonies is from Omri Sassi, a Nova festival producer who lost family and friends in the massacre and now receives weekly psychological treatment. He described witnessing horrific violence during the attack and said the online denial and misinformation have worsened his trauma. In response, Sassi organized a London exhibition about the festival to counter the false narratives.

The FOA calls on social media companies to act faster in removing content that violates their terms, including calls for violence, and urges governments to hold these platforms accountable. FOA CEO Tomer Aldubi emphasized the rapid global spread of antisemitism and hatred against Jews, Israelis, and Zionists since October 7, warning against silence or surrender. TikTok responded to the report by affirming its strict policies against antisemitism and hateful content, stating it uses advanced technology and expert teams to detect and remove covert influence operations.

The report concludes that survivors and their families suffer a "double victimization" from ongoing online abuse that deepens the trauma of the original massacre.