Jewish members of Congress have experienced a nearly five-fold increase in antisemitic harassment on Facebook since Meta rolled back its moderation policy at the start of 2025, according to research from the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Center for Technology and Society (CTS), published in early May.
Following the policy change, ADL expressed concern, warning that it would be a “step backward” that could allow increased hate, antisemitism, and toxic content on Facebook and potentially on Meta’s other platforms.
To measure the impact of this change, ADL researchers analyzed 337,763 comments posted between January 1 and April 7, 2025, on the Facebook pages of 30 Jewish members of Congress with active accounts.
Antisemitic comments increased from February
According to the research, the average number of comments per day on these Facebook pages significantly increased from February 4, 2025, including both hateful and non-hateful comments.
Before February 4, there was an average of 6.5 antisemitic comments per day. Afterward, that number spiked to nearly 30 per day, remaining at that level through April 7, representing a nearly five-fold increase in antisemitic comments targeting these members of Congress.
The share of antisemitic and toxic content has remained relatively consistent since February, indicating that Meta has overall reduced moderation, resulting in an increase in hateful and toxic comments.
“Meta bears responsibility for the harm that its recent moderation policy roll-back has caused as it is enabling, if not actively encouraging, antisemitic, hateful, and toxic activity on its platforms,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO.
He added, “This hate targeted at Jewish members of Congress is not only unacceptable but also reflects what all American Jews and regular users face daily across Meta’s social media platforms. The findings of this study reinforce our determination to request appropriate content moderation on Meta’s platforms and to work with all stakeholders to protect all online users from hate and harassment.”
Most Americans facing online harassment encounter it on Facebook
ADL’s 2024 annual survey found that most Americans who face online harassment encounter it on Facebook, with 61% reporting incidents in the last year.
Furthermore, ADL’s social media scorecard released in September 2024 showed that Meta’s platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, did not respond to any reported cases of antisemitic content from average users.
ADL had previously warned that reducing content moderation would allow toxic and hateful content to surge.
“Rolling back content moderation practices means that toxicity and antisemitism are allowed to thrive even more than in the past,” said Daniel Kelley, director of strategy and operations and interim head of the ADL Center for Technology and Society.
“ADL research has consistently shown that marginalized groups are the most targeted with online identity-based harassment, and that the consequence for regular users is often withdrawal from these spaces. Meta should seriously reconsider this decision or find better ways to protect users, especially those routinely targeted with hate.”