Social media amplifying anti-Muslim hatred in Ireland, report finds

Almost 90% of conversation on X regarding Muslim hate incidents here originated outside Ireland.

Posts made during incidents targeting minority communities, including celebrating violence, calling for murder and damage to property often remains online.

The report, The Islamophobia Playbook: A Project of Hate, examines anti-Muslim incidents in 2026 and presents an in-depth case study of role of social media in the alleged arson attack on the Al Madinah Prayer Hall (Talbot Street Mosque) in Dublin.

Researchers found that a Facebook video showing the aftermath of the attack was viewed more than 1.9 million times - approximately 352 times greater than the account's normal audience.

Analysis of more than 10,600 comments and emojis found that one in five contained anti-Muslim hate, support for the alleged attack, calls for further mosque burnings, violence against Muslims, or other forms of incitement.

The research also found that discussion of the mosque attack rapidly spread across X, generating more than 112,000 online mentions from 70,000 unique accounts and reaching an estimated 243 million accounts within six days.

Nearly 90% of online discussion originated outside Ireland, highlighting the increasingly international nature of online anti-Muslim narratives.

Throughout 2026, the Muslim community in Ireland experienced a sustained pattern of intimidation,
violence, and organised anti-Muslim hate:

The report findings show that social media platforms are failing to apply their own community standards as harmful content is amplified at moments of crisis and remains online today.

Speaking on the publication of the report, Mark Malone, Research Lead with Hope and Courage Collective said: “The findings of this research are extremely worrying.

"The public, in particular the Muslim community, needs clarity on how Facebook's recommender systems turn attacks on places of worship into viral content that normalises this event and calls for more violence.

"That level of international amplification should concern anyone responsible for the safety of our online spaces. Ireland is now a source of content for international far-right influencers”.

Hope and Courage Collective is calling on Coimisiún na Meán to engage with Meta to publish an incident-specific risk assessment explaining how they responded to the Al Madinah Prayer Hall (Talbot Street Mosque) Arson Attack.

The report further recommends implementing the Oireachtas Joint Committee recommendation to turn off recommender systems by default, alongside stronger enforcement of the Prohibition of Incitement To Hatred Act 1989 in response to incidents involving anti-Muslim hate and incitement to violence.