An investigation by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), conducted in partnership with the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), accuses Instagram of actively amplifying and monetizing extremist, antisemitic, and racist content through its recommendation algorithm, driving massive reach and significant revenue for sellers of “hate merch.”

The report, titled “Hate for Sale: How Instagram Helps Sellers of Hateful Merchandise Reach a Billion Views,” alleges that Instagram’s systems recommended 11 identified accounts to users, helping them amass a combined 1.5 billion views and generate an estimated $1.3 million in sales. According to the findings, the visibility of Nazi-themed and racist merchandise surged following Meta’s decision earlier this year to scale back certain content moderation policies, with views increasing nearly fourfold—a 3.75x jump.

CCDH researchers documented posts that glorified Nazis, denied the Holocaust, demonized Jewish people, mocked the murder of George Floyd, and joked about slavery. Among the items sold were T-shirts emblazoned with slogans such as “Life is a race. Be a racist.” The report also highlights the use of AI-generated hateful imagery, alleging that Meta inconsistently labels such content, further enabling its spread.

Two of the accounts examined reportedly boasted tens of thousands of sales, with estimated revenues of $839,700 and $499,750, respectively. The storefronts were hosted on mainstream e-commerce platforms including Shopify, Wix, and Payhip. After being notified by CCDH, Wix and Payhip removed the offending merchandise. The report does not detail a response from Shopify.

“This is not a fringe problem—it’s systemic,” said Imran Ahmed, CEO of CCDH. “Instagram helps extremists make money out of antisemitism and racism. By withdrawing critical safeguards, Meta has allowed hate to flourish. Extremist content is promoted and monetized by their algorithms. Every time someone buys a shirt from one of these hate merchants, it funds more propaganda.”

JFNA President and CEO Eric D. Fingerhut warned that the implications extend well beyond individual posts or accounts. “Social media has played an outsize role in spreading hate and antisemitism,” he said. “This report is an important reminder that social media companies can and should be doing a lot more to enforce their rules and keep our communities safer.”

The findings land amid mounting legal and political pressure on Meta. Families of victims of the October 7 Hamas attack have filed suit against the company, alleging its platforms enabled the spread of extremist content. The White House has also weighed in on the broader climate of online antisemitism, underscoring the national-security and public-safety stakes.

CCDH’s report argues that the problem is not merely enforcement failure but algorithmic design, claiming Instagram’s recommendation engine actively steers users toward hate-based commerce, effectively subsidizing extremism with engagement and ad-driven reach. The result, the report contends, is a feedback loop in which hateful content is rewarded with visibility, profit, and further amplification.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)