War on Iran fuelling Islamophobic social media surge in US: Report

US study reveals more than 25,300 Islamophobic posts on X since war began and intensifying hate speech against Muslims.Published On 10 Mar 2026The United States and Israel’s Iran" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="42102" data-entity-type="event">War on Iran has “accelerated” the spread of harmful content targeting American Muslims on social media platforms, a study by the US Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH) finds.The centre found that on X alone from February 28, the first day of the war, to Thursday, users posted more than 25,300 Islamophobic remarks.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3What is the US endgame in Iran, as the war escalates?list 2 of 3The ‘Fourth Successor’: Iran’s plan for a long war with the US and Israellist 3 of 3Could the US-Israel war with Iran fuel global inflation?end of listThe report, which was released on Monday, also found that Islamaphobia was present on social media before the war. The dataset examined original posts, quotes and replies containing Islamophobic content from January 1 through Thursday, noting that the reach of such posts expanded “significantly once reposts are included” to more than 279,000 mentions of Islamophobic content.The analysis showed that such posts surged from February 28.Users turned to using “dehumanizing language”, referring to Muslims as “pests”, “rats”, “vermin”, “parasites” and an “infestation”, the CSOH said.“Such language has historically preceded and enabled the most extreme forms of violence against targeted communities,” the report said.Among 30 such posts that were flagged, 11 were removed while 19 were still available on the platform as of Monday.According to the centre, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), a US watchdog group, has reportedly received complaints since February 28 that US military commanders have told service members the war with Iran was “all part of God’s divine plan”.Reports said the MRFF has received more than 200 complaints from service members across multiple military installations about commanders framing the war in religious terms.