It has been alleged multiple times in the past that Muslims are discriminated against in the United States under President Donald Trump’s administration. Now, it appears that the ongoing war with Iran has accelerated hate speech on social media targeting followers of Islam residing in America.
A study by the U.S. Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH) has found that since the first day of the war, netizens have shared more than 25,300 posts on social media platform X with Islamophobic remarks. The study explained that since the beginning of 2026, hateful content targeting Muslims has escalated at an alarming pace.
We aren’t causing problems. 99% of images flooding social media are ai generated or edited. Anyone with a functioning brain can spot the unnatural surge in Islamophobic posts and images on X.
— Team Flash ⚡❄🕶 (@OGTeamFlash) November 30, 2025
The onset of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran has heavily contributed to this trend, even sending it to new extremes. The political rhetoric has worsened the situation, with some Republicans dehumanizing Muslims on social media and Make America Great Again (MAGA) supporters backing them with words of their own.
According to The Independent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called out Iran stating that the country is run by crazy “prophetic Islamic delusions,” making it unfit to have nuclear weapons. Likewise, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation also contributed to the hate speech, stating that the war with the Middle Eastern country was part of “God’s divine plan” to prevent Armageddon.
With administration members calling out the Muslim community, Islamophobic discourse online has skyrocketed. Each of these posts made Muslims the targets of suspicion, hostility and violence, labeling them as a potential threat to American society.
The study included original posts, quotes and replies that contained hateful words directed toward Muslims. The hate posts spiked between February 28 and March 5, with a total of 25,348 being recorded during this period. The study noted that the reach of these types of content amplifies due to reposts. As a result, the volume of these kinds of content rose to 279,417, representing an 11-fold amplification of the original post’s reach.
Muslims want to ban my 4 dogs.
One of my dogs is named Mecca.
This is Mecca.
I make Muslims pray toward my dog 5 times a day.
I choose Mecca. pic.twitter.com/LqupjkZ64u
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) February 17, 2026
Aside from hate speech, the CSOH also gave examples of several posts that “cross the line from hatred into explicit incitement to violence,” and directly call to exterminate the members of this religious belief.
Further findings showed that some MAGA supporters wanted to eliminate Muslims as an act of self-defense and carry on their patriotic duty. The CSOH added, “In the current climate, this content functions as a call to action directed at a community that is already experiencing rising rates of bias, harassment, discrimination and hate-fueled violence.”
Other examples of posts included mentions of internment camps, infestation, comparing Muslims with vermin and rats and demanding to mass deport them. In some extreme cases, posts called for the destruction of mosques. What makes this hate speech so grim is that the platform failed to enforce its own reporting categories, according to the study.
