Conspiracy theories about flydubai attack spread across social media, reports find

Antisemitic conspiracy theories blaming Israel and Jews for Wednesday’s alleged attempt to crash an Israel-bound flydubai flight spread online within minutes of the incident, according to two separate reports.

Combat Antisemitism Movement’s Antisemitism Research Center said in a report that it identified 2,963 posts on X attributing the incident to Israel, Mossad, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Zionists or Jews during a 12-hour monitoring period. The first such accusation appeared 67 minutes after the aircraft transmitted its initial distress signal.

The CAM report found that about 72% of 4,136 posts it tracked containing the phrase “false flag” promoted conspiracy claims blaming Israel or Jews. That figure rose to 81% and 82% in the final two hourly monitoring periods.

“What’s striking here isn’t just the volume, it’s the speed,” said ARC Research Associate Oliver Marks. “Sixty-seven minutes is all it took for the near downing of a commercial airliner by a terrorist pilot to become fodder for antisemitic conspiracy theorists across the globe.”

Marks said the findings suggested the narratives were not being developed in response to the incident itself, but were based on preexisting conspiracy theories that could be quickly applied to breaking news.

“It’s clear this isn’t a narrative that forms in response to an incident,” he said. “Rather, it’s part of a script that already exists, sitting ready for use whenever opportunities arise.”

Meanwhile, CyberWell, a nonprofit fighting antisemitism on social media, similarly reported that “false flag” claims quickly emerged alleging that Israelis had hijacked or staged the attack. The organization said the claims reflected a broader antisemitic conspiracy theory portraying Jews or Israelis as orchestrating attacks against themselves.

Such narratives “recast victims as perpetrators” and can fuel hatred and further violence against Jews, said CyberWell CEO Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor.

“These claims reflect a broader pattern of conspiratorial self-victimization, an antisemitic conspiracy that falsely accuses Jews or Israelis of orchestrating attacks against themselves to manipulate public opinion,” Cohen Montemayor said. “It is a contemporary expression of Jew-hatred and a form of misinformation aimed at spreading hatred, distrust and disgust toward Jews.”

Similar antisemitic disinformation campaigns have been employed on social media numerous times since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, CAM and CyberWell noted.

Recent examples have included conspiracy theories about soccer icon Lionel Messi linked to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, blaming Israel for Spain’s migrant crisis in August, and an ongoing meme about Jews claiming items that were “promised to them 3,000 years ago.”