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Coinciding with commemorations of the 25th anniversary of September 11th last week, CAM’s Antisemitism Research Center (ARC) documented a proliferation of antisemitic conspiracy theories recasting the deadliest terrorist attack in modern history as a “false flag” plot orchestrated by Jews and Israel.
Between Sept. 11-13, as the world paid tribute to the nearly 3,000 people murdered a quarter century ago when Al Qaeda hijackers seized four airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania field, ARC researchers examined 174 high-reach social media posts that together generated at least 56.5 million views, 1.2 million likes, 122,000 shares, and 46,000 comments.
The documented posts advanced two reinforcing notions. Antisemitic tropes were used to portray Jews and Israel as the hidden architects of 9/11, with a focus on Jewish American real estate developer Larry Silverstein, the World Trade Center leaseholder at the time of the attacks. At the same time, anti-American narratives expanded that framing, accusing U.S. officials of complicity in steering the country toward Middle East wars on behalf of the Jewish state.
Read the full ARC analysis, “Hijacking History: The Antisemitic Campaign to Distort the Truth of 9/11,” HERE.
The ARC’s findings showed that the conspiracy theories are no longer confined to fringe forums. They are being repackaged for mainstream consumption on the algorithmic feeds of major social media platforms, including X, Instagram, and TikTok.
“The 25th anniversary of September 11th should have been a universal moment of remembrance and reflection,” said ARC Research Associate Oliver Marks. “Instead, our study showed how antisemites exploited the moment to resurrect and amplify familiar conspiracy narratives falsely blaming Jews and Israel for the attacks. By weaponizing the figure of Larry Silverstein and distorting basic facts about 9/11, these narratives transform antisemitic mythology into seemingly credible ‘alternative history.’ We must confront these distortions with facts, historical truth, and an unambiguous rejection of the hatred underlying them.”
Based on the ARC’s findings, CAM is calling on social media platforms to withhold algorithmic amplification from antisemitic conspiracy theory content related to 9/11. Posts can remain available, but recommendation, discovery, and autoplay systems should not promote them.
Additionally, for transparency purposes, CAM urges platforms to disclose how often their systems delivered such content during the anniversary period.
Read more:
Analysis: 25 Years Later, Antisemites Are Winning the War to Rewrite the Facts of 9/11
