Islamophobia surges online as Europe struggles to respond

Hateful comments against Muslims and migrants spiked in Germany after Saturday’s brutal knife attack in Solingen, where an asylum-seeker from Syria killed three people and injured eight others. The Islamic State claimed responsibility; and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party was quick to use the tragedy to criticize the government ahead of key state elections, blaming the incident on diversity policies adopted by the ruling coalition.

DW Factcheck detected a group of verified accounts on X that actively contributed to the disinformation campaigns around all three cases, spreading memes and caricatures, as well as dubious claims and outright lies.

This intensified wave of Islamophobic disinformation  — or the deliberate spread of false information —  comes amid a rising tide of Islamophobia across Europe, spread after similar attacks in other European countries.

On August 18 an 11-year-old boy was fatally stabbed in Toledo, Spain. The incident quickly became the subject of unfounded claims. Numerous social media posts falsely linked the attack to a Muslim immigrant of North African descent, despite official statements clarifying that the perpetrator was a 20-year-old Spaniard. A viral post from an account that routinely shares content portraying Muslim migrants as a major threat in Europe added to this disinformation campaign. The comments under the post claim that a Muslim was responsible for the attack.

The falsehood about the perpetrator mirrored what happened in UK's Southport in late July, where a widespread rumor falsely identified the perpetrator of a stabbing that killed three children as a Muslim migrant. This led to days of violent riots across England and Northern Ireland.

Right-wing figures, influencers, and online trolls fanned the flames, with some well-known right-wing figures even encouraging people to join the riots and attack mosques.

Can online hate transform into real crimes?

Official data shows that Islamophobic crimes in Germany more than doubled in 2023, with nearly one in 10 incidents involving violence, according to the German Alliance against Islamophobia and discrimination against Muslims (CLAIM). Similarly, Tell Mama, an organization that records and measures anti-Muslim incidents in the United Kingdom recorded a seven-fold increase in anti-Muslim cases between October 7 and February 7, compared to the same period the previous year. Austria and other European countries have also reported similar trends.

Solingen attack causes a wave of disinformation online

After the attack in Solingen attack, one particular video went viral. In it, a group of men is seen in front of St. Lorenz Church in Nürnberg, waving black flags with Arabic script. The video was posted on X, Telegram, and several websites in languages including French, German, English, and Spanish, with claims that the flag belonged to ISIS. Among those promoting this false claim was AfD MP Martin Sichert, who stated, "Anyone who thinks Solingen is an isolated case is wrong. Radical Muslims are on the rise all over Germany. Here is a short video of an Islamic State rally in Nürnberg a few hours after Solingen." However, the video shows a Shia procession during Arbaeen in Nürnberg, with the black flags symbolizing sorrow and mourning.

A mosque called Zahra Cultural Center hadannounced the event on its Facebook page earlier and published pictures and footage on its social media accounts. The script on the flags features the names of Shia Imams, not ISIS slogans.

Lorena Martinez, Head of EMEA Editorial Operations at Logically Facts, a fact-checking organization, also confirmed that her team has witnessed a spike in misinformation online about migration over the last couple of weeks. "There's a pattern to disinformation campaigns across Europe," she told DW. "They begin with a breaking news situation and bombard the audience with content designed to lead them down a path of speculation with one inevitable conclusion: that Muslims and migrants pose an existential threat to Europe."

This pattern also appeared after the latest stabbing incidents. A recurring trend in the posts that circulated after each event was the spread of images or footage taken out of context. For instance, videos and pictures of large gatherings of Muslims during religious events were posted online with captions warning about "Europe's growing Muslim migrant problem."

Disinformation playbook: recycled content and AI-generated Images

The disinformation campaign is not only about spreading baseless information; it’s also about inflaming sentiments. AI-generated photos and ambiguous questions are often employed to amplify the effect.

One example is a widely circulated image on social media (see below), showing British police officers kneeling before a line of men in robes, purportedly Muslims. Although the image was AI-generated, with distorted features and unnatural symmetry, it was used to accuse the police of being submissive to the Muslim community. 

The unsubstantiated conspiracy that authorities treat Muslims better than other citizens has been repeated by right-wing figures in Germany, Sweden, and other countries.

"If the state continues to protect ISLAMISTS from citizens instead of protecting citizens from Islamism, there will be scenes [of riot and violence] all over Europe," wrote a German account supporting the theory. 

How X and Telegram gave impunity to hate speech

The social media platform X, formerly Twitter, has become a significant incubator for misinformation, exacerbated by unpredictable policy changes and Elon Musk's promotion of dubious claims. During the UK riots, Musk used his influence to suggest that diversity is fueling unrest, claiming that "civil war is inevitable." He boosted dozens of posts by right-wing influencers by sharing them with his 195.8 million followers. When British authorities requested him to remove posts posing threats to national security, he reportedly refused.

Other platforms such as Telegram have also given unprecedented impunity to right-wing agitators. Following the killings in Southport, channels on Telegram amassed tens of thousands of members, facilitating widespread violence and property destruction, including targeting a mosque.

EU's struggle to regulate online hate speech

European countries have long attempted to mandate that social media platforms effectively crack down on hate speech against all communities, including Muslims.

Germany’s Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG) and the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) are among the laws introduced to tackle the proliferation of illegal content online.

 After false information online triggered racist riots in the UK, the British government considered changing its online safety laws to regulate social media companies. According to the current laws, companies face fines only if they fail to police illegal content, such as incitement to violence or hate speech. However, proposed changes could allow sanctions on companies if they permit "legal but harmful" content, such as misinformation, to propagate. 

But enforcing these laws remains a challenge, Dr. Bharath Ganesh researcher of media studies and political communication at the University of Amsterdam, told DW, as long as these companies enjoy a high level of freedom and arbitration power in their home countries, such as the United States or China.

"These companies can basically operate like dictatorships if they want to. They’ve operated under a childish set of ideologies that misunderstand free expression. Policies of platforms like these have clearly made this process worse," he said.

Edited by: Rachel Baig