By: Fern Sidman – Jewish Voice News

A new report by CyberWell, an Israeli-founded digital monitoring organization, has revealed that New York City’s recent mayoral election became a concentrated hub for antisemitic conspiracy theories and online attacks targeting Jewish influence in politics. According to a report that appeared on Sunday at World Israel News, researchers found that social media platforms—particularly X and TikTok—were the primary conduits for spreading false and hateful narratives about alleged Jewish control of the city’s political establishment.

The data paints a stark picture of how antisemitic rhetoric continues to infiltrate mainstream political discourse, exploiting moments of heightened public attention such as elections. The research team at CyberWell noted that many of the viral posts weaponized traditional anti-Jewish tropes—repackaged for modern platforms and often cloaked in discussions of “Zionist power,” “media control,” or “foreign influence.”

According to the report at World Israel News, CyberWell’s researchers conducted a targeted review of posts connected to the New York City mayoral race between Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo, flagging hundreds of pieces of content that appeared to violate hate-speech policies. Of these, dozens of verified posts were analyzed in depth, revealing that over 90% of them revolved around a single recurring theme—that Jews or so-called “Zionists” were controlling the government, the candidates, or the election outcome.

The report noted that the majority of the activity occurred on X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok, two platforms that have recently been criticized for their inconsistent moderation policies regarding election-related misinformation. The antisemitic narratives often adopted political or pseudo-academic language, seeking to mask bigotry under the guise of “geopolitical critique.”

One of the most widely circulated examples identified by CyberWell and cited in the World Israel News was a post on X that amassed nearly 53,000 views, alleging that “Zionists are directing Mamdani’s campaign” and claiming Jews were “enemies of White Christians.” Another post, viewed tens of thousands of times, asserted that “the entire government at every level bows to Zionists,” framing the New York election as proof of a “Zionist apparatus controlling the United States.”

The report emphasized that such claims follow a long lineage of antisemitic conspiracy theories—dating back centuries—that accuse Jews of clandestine manipulation of political, financial, and social systems.

What made the findings especially troubling, CyberWell researchers said, was the cross-partisan nature of the online antisemitism. As World Israel News reported, both left-leaning and right-wing accounts were involved in amplifying the hate speech, often targeting opposing candidates while relying on the same antisemitic narratives.

Some users framed Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist who won the election, as a puppet of “Zionist handlers,” despite his frequent criticism of Israel and support for pro-Palestinian causes. Others attacked Andrew Cuomo, portraying him as being “owned by Jewish donors” and beholden to “Tel Aviv interests.”

The contradictory messaging, CyberWell’s analysts said, underscores how antisemitic conspiracy theories adapt to fit divergent political agendas—casting Jews as all-powerful villains regardless of the ideological context. As World Israel News reported, the study found that “accusations portraying Jews as controlling political figures transcend both party lines and national borders,” demonstrating that such rhetoric operates as a universal scapegoating mechanism rather than a coherent political argument.

In addition to direct accusations of Jewish political control, the monitoring effort also detected a sharp rise in Israel-related hate speech during the campaign. Posts responding to Cuomo’s public expressions of support for Israel frequently devolved into open antisemitism.

According to the information contained in the World Israel News report, several posts labeling Israelis as “mass murderers,” “child killers,” and “psychopaths” garnered over 203,000 combined views, reflecting how geopolitical tensions surrounding the Israel–Hamas conflict have become a flashpoint for antisemitic content online.

CyberWell noted that posts invoking “Zionist occupation” or “Jewish control” often blurred the line between political criticism and racial hatred, using Israel as a pretext to attack Jewish people globally. These narratives, researchers found, were particularly prevalent among fringe activist accounts and anonymous influencers, whose content was algorithmically amplified by user engagement.

World Israel News reported that this latest study builds upon CyberWell’s broader research into antisemitic trends online. The organization, which uses advanced machine-learning tools to identify and categorize hate speech in real time, has repeatedly documented spikes in anti-Jewish content during major political events and international crises.

Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor, CyberWell’s founder and CEO, told World Israel News that the pattern is unmistakable. “Our research consistently shows that antisemitic conspiracies targeting minority groups surge during politically sensitive periods,” she said. “This demonstrates the global scale and alignment of conspiracies against a common target and scapegoat during free elections—the Jewish people.”

Cohen Montemayor noted that the findings from New York’s election reflect broader global trends seen in Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East, where antisemitic disinformation networks often coordinate narratives that tie Jewish people to political control, financial manipulation, or media dominance.

She also emphasized the dangers posed by social media’s lax enforcement mechanisms. “These narratives thrive in online spaces where hate is disguised as free speech and algorithms reward engagement over accuracy,” she said, according to the World Israel News report.

The report’s findings also highlighted the minimal intervention by major social media platforms, despite the scale of the hate speech involved. CyberWell found that many of the posts it tracked remained publicly accessible even weeks after being flagged, with little to no visible moderation.

The World Israel News report cited researchers’ concerns that both X and TikTok have significantly reduced content moderation efforts in recent months, leaving extremist narratives unchecked. In some cases, antisemitic accounts continued to post freely after previous violations, suggesting a lack of enforcement consistency.

CyberWell has called for renewed cooperation between digital platforms, civil society organizations, and governmental agencies to establish standardized hate-speech monitoring and reporting mechanisms—particularly during election periods, when misinformation and conspiratorial content tend to spike.

According to the information in the World Israel News report, the implications of the CyberWell study extend beyond New York City. Experts warn that the viral nature of antisemitic conspiracies during a major American election signals a worrying normalization of hate speech in the digital sphere.

The framing of Jews as “puppet masters” or “controllers” of global power structures has reemerged as a recurring motif across the internet’s ideological extremes. Whether invoked by far-right nationalists, radical leftists, or foreign disinformation campaigns, these tropes perpetuate a shared narrative of distrust toward Jews and Israel.

Cohen Montemayor’s findings, reported by World Israel News, suggest that combating these conspiracies requires not only reactive moderation but proactive education and awareness-building. “The persistence of these narratives during democratic elections,” she said, “reveals how antisemitism continues to evolve as a digital weapon—capable of destabilizing public trust and endangering Jewish communities worldwide.”

As the World Israel News report indicated, the findings from CyberWell’s latest monitoring project serve as a sobering reminder of how antisemitic conspiracy theories continue to infiltrate mainstream public discourse—particularly in moments of political volatility.

The New York City mayoral election, already contentious due to stark ideological divisions between candidates, became a digital microcosm of the broader battle against online hate. In this case, the battleground was not only over ballots and policies but over truth itself—where lies about Jewish “control” and “influence” metastasized into a viral narrative with global reach.

CyberWell’s analysis concludes that without sustained intervention, transparency, and cross-platform accountability, antisemitic conspiracies will remain a persistent and dangerous force in the digital age. As World Israel News reported, the organization’s findings underscore an urgent need for coordinated action—to protect both the integrity of democratic processes and the safety of Jewish communities that have long borne the brunt of such toxic misinformation.