Iran-linked hate campaign targets Nova survivors, report says

A new report by the Fighting Online Antisemitism movement, cited by the British newspaper The Telegraph, reveals how thousands of coordinated fake accounts, apparently operated by Iran, have targeted survivors of the Nova festival massacre. According to the report, the survivors are facing an “ongoing, multi-layered digital campaign,” while social media platforms are failing to remove abusive posts, comments and videos. What may have initially been promoted by bots has gained momentum and is now being spread by real users as well, the report said. The report’s authors said the coordinated campaign is intended to erase, distort and justify the October 7 massacre, not only by challenging the facts of the attack but also by attacking the survivors themselves. The report pointed to social media posts calling for survivors to die, denying their testimonies and describing them with racist, sexist and abusive slurs.