Introduction

Hamas’ October 7th attack on Israel in 2023 has triggered waves of antisemitism across social media platforms. As we’ve previously examined, many have attempted to weaponise harmful narratives, often justifying the attacks as forms of resistance or denying the events took place. While anti-semitic content has risen on mainstream platforms in the US and Europe, so too has it taken hold in Asia. For the first time in this report, OHPI examines hateful content on the Chinese social media site Weibo, documenting and analysing the antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories on the platform.

For background it should be noted that relations between the Jewish people and the Chinese people go back to the 8th century and the first Jewish community in China was established in the city of Kaifeng during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). A golden age was experienced in the 14th century with members of the Jewish community able to fully participate in public life and government affairs, some were granted positions and land by the Emperor. Today there are about 2,500 Jews in China. 

A Brief Primer on Weibo

Weibo can be thought of as China’s equivalent to X (formerly Twitter). Catering mainly to its domestic market, the platform touted 255 million daily active users in March of 2024. Given the unique approach to domestic law, Weibo is different from Western platforms, in that its aims and vision are to promote the “core values ​​of socialism….moral concepts and a positive spirit of the times” , while also  “oppos[ing] negative and vulgar content”, as stated in Article 10 of its community convention. Yet despite these latter commitments, several pieces of antisemitic content can be seen on the platform, propagating stereotypes and inciting hatred against Jewish people. 

Examples of Hate

I. Antisemitism Responding to Israel’s Embassy in Beijing

Numerous examples of antisemitism can be seen in response to posts made by the Israeli embassy in Beijing. 

For example, after the embassy posted about the attacks and called for hostages to be brought back, a user writes that the attacks are the “Eradication of Jewish Parasites”.

In another post by the embassy marking Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance day, another user is seen making violent rhetoric, calling for Jewish people to go “back to your grave[s]”. The post begins with language seemingly encouraging rape. While the in-app translation seems more sanitised, a rougher translation suggests the user writes, “But I fucked your daughter. Your daughter is really a bitch.” 

Additionally, when the embassy posted a video describing Iran’s support of Hezbollah, a user simply responded in English, “Kill all the Jews and destroy Israel”. 

The embassy also made a post memorialising three men killed in the attacks, which was met with a post mocking their deaths, writing in English: “Gas the Jews”.

II. Generalised Antisemitism

Aside from antisemitic content in response to the Israeli embassy in Beijing, generalised antisemitism is also seen. 

Following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the US Congress, a post is seen taking a still from his address and juxtaposing it with an image of a classic antisemitic meme known as the Happy Merchant, which we first explored in 2014. Another image is seen showing a cartoon caricature from Der Stuermer, a Nazi propaganda outlet in the 1940s, showing a Jewish man consuming people. The caricature is also juxtaposed with an image of Netanyahu.  

A similar post propagates similar narratives, spreading the antisemitic trope that “Jews run the USA”. The post is accompanied by three images. One conveys the idea that America is controlled by Israel as a puppet, while another suggests America is run under a caste-like system, in which Jewish people are at the very top. The final image contains coverage in Mandarin of the US House of Representatives passing the Stop Anti-Semitism on College Campuses Act (H.R.3773). 

Another post, written in both English and Mandarin, can be seen calling for the “slaughter [of] every person that belongs to Israel”. The post goes on to call for “burn[ning of] everything owned by Israelis”. 

In a similar vein, another post writes, “The Jews are the master robbers of the modern age”, alluding to the notion that Jewish people have “ruined” the world. 

Another distributing post suggests that Jewish people “deserve[d]” their treatment under Hitler in World War II, adding that Jewish people are evil.

Response & Takedowns

OHPI reported 34 pieces of antisemitic content to Weibo. In the week after the data was collected and reported to the platform, just one item had been removed. That item, in addition to its antisemitism, showed a man kicking a cat. Checked again two weeks later, no additional removals had been made, and the system’s complaint system shows most of our reports to still be in a queue awaiting processing. Interestingly, Weibo offers a feature that allows users to see where an account’s IP addresses originate. All content OHPI reported to the platform appears to be created by domestic Chinese users. 

Conclusion 

The antisemitism highlighted in this report suggests the global prevalence and reach of antisemitic narritives in mainland China, inflamed by the Israel-Hamas war. Weibo’s removal rates appear to be very low, and the process rather slow. We suggest the platform make improvements to reduce the prevalence of antisemitism across the site. Given the unique approaches to account creation, verification and reporting, more analysis is encouraged to monitor the progress made against antisemitic content on Weibo and other platforms serving the Chinese market.