It happened out of nowhere. My Instagram was suddenly flooded with comments, DMs, reports. Hateful messages from accounts I’d never seen before, all saying variations of the same thing. Within hours, dozens of them. Then hundreds.
If you’re Jewish and active on social media, you know exactly what I’m talking about. One minute your account is normal, the next you’re under siege from what feels like an organized army. Kids were getting attacked. Creators were getting attacked. Regular people posting about their lives were getting attacked. And nobody understood where it was coming from or why.
So I decided to find out.
Following the breadcrumbs to Telegram
The accounts all had a similar pattern. New profiles, minimal followers, generic usernames. But they were coordinated. That kind of coordination doesn’t happen by accident.
I started digging. Following accounts back to their sources. Looking for patterns in timing and language. And eventually, I found my way into their actual coordination channels on Telegram.
What I discovered wasn’t one group. It was dozens.
How I found them (and kept finding more)
I can’t remember exactly where I saw the very first one. I think someone had shared a screenshot. I looked at the page, clicked through to Telegram, and discovered their first mistake: Telegram shows you similar accounts.
So I clicked. And clicked. And kept clicking.
Not every channel leads you to the next one. Sometimes you hit dead ends, sometimes the “similar accounts” feature doesn’t show you anything useful. But when you find one active group, you start seeing patterns. They forward messages to each other. They coordinate. They reference other groups by name. One breadcrumb leads to another.
I spent hours in there. Days, really. Jumping between groups, watching how they operated, seeing which provinces had which teams, figuring out who was forwarding to who. Telegram basically hands you a map if you’re willing to follow it. The platform connects these networks whether they want it to or not.
Many of them would also link directly to their Instagram profiles. Not always updated, more like a vibe check of who they were. And here’s where they made it incredibly easy: a lot of them used the same weird emblem or symbol on their Instagram accounts. I guess it was supposed to represent their group or team or whatever.
Not exactly criminal masterminds.
Once you spotted that emblem, you could identify them, restrict them, block them. They basically branded themselves for easy detection. Probably works in our favor that they’re not the brightest.
And it’s a constant chase. Pages get shut down, new ones pop up with different names. You think you’ve found them all, then someone mentions a new group in a chat and you’re back at it. But once you understand how they work, you can always find them again.
A network of provincial “teams”
These aren’t sophisticated hackers or paid propagandists. They’re groups of kids across different provinces in Indonesia, running what they’ve turned into a competition.
Each province has its own group. Sometimes multiple groups. They have names, identities, different “teams.” And here’s how it actually works: they clock in. Someone drops a list in the chat. Jewish Instagram accounts. Sometimes WhatsApp numbers. And they get their instructions.
Leave this many comments. DM as much as you can. Report every part of their profile you can find. See if you can get something taken down.
It’s not random scrolling. It’s a job. They’re workers getting assignments. And like any job, they have to document their work. Screenshot what they did. Upload it to prove they completed the task.
They used to spam comments constantly. Hundreds of them. Until someone figured out they were actually boosting our engagement. Helping the algorithm show our content to more people. Not surprisingly, it took them a while to catch on, but eventually the comments slowed down once they realized they were doing us a favor.
Occasionally they’ll get a list of accounts that support Palestine and they’re told to go show them some love. Leave positive comments, boost their posts. But that’s rare.
Most of the day? They’re just talking. About their favorite snacks. Learning things, joking around. Normal kid stuff. And then in between all of that, posting another screenshot of a Jewish account they just mass reported.
Here’s the thing: from their angle, they genuinely believe they’re doing the right thing. If you flipped it and saw Jewish kids doing hasbara work, going after pages they thought were spreading lies, you wouldn’t think twice about it. These kids think they’re on the side of justice.
That’s it. That’s the whole operation.
The whack-a-mole pattern
When one group’s accounts get shut down by Instagram, they just make new ones. New names, same game. The Telegram groups stay active, the coordination continues, the kids keep playing.
It’s not sophisticated. It’s not some massive funded operation. It’s teenagers with too much time treating antisemitism like a video game where the points are screenshots and the leaderboard is a Telegram chat.
Why it feels scarier than it actually is
Here’s the thing: the psychological impact is way bigger than the actual effectiveness.
When you suddenly see dozens of hateful comments and DMs, it feels like you’re under attack from a massive, organized force. It feels personal. It feels scary. Especially if you’re a kid, or a parent watching your kid get targeted.
But the reality is this: they’re mostly just DMing and commenting. Their comments can be filtered. Their DMs can be blocked.
Now, can mass reporting actually cause problems? Yes. If enough of them report your account or specific posts, Instagram’s automated systems can take action. Posts can get taken down. Accounts can get temporarily restricted. It happens.
But here’s what you need to know: Instagram’s systems are getting better at recognizing coordinated inauthentic behavior. Mass reports from obvious bot accounts carry less weight than they used to. And if you’re careful about what you post, staying within Instagram’s community guidelines, you’re much less vulnerable to these coordinated reporting campaigns actually sticking.
The fear they generate is still the main weapon. Make Jewish people feel unsafe online, make them want to hide, make them shut down their accounts. And it works, not because they’re always effective at getting content removed, but because we don’t understand what we’re dealing with.
What this means for Jewish social media
If you’re Jewish and online, you’re a potential target. That’s just the reality right now. But understanding what you’re actually facing changes everything.
You’re not being targeted by some powerful organization with unlimited resources. You’re being targeted by bored kids in Indonesia who’ve turned hatred into a game they play between posting memes.
Does that make it okay? Absolutely not. Does it make it less scary? It should.
How to protect yourself (it’s easier than you think)
Instagram has settings specifically designed to deal with exactly this kind of thing. Most people just don’t know they exist.
Limit comments to people who follow you: Go to Settings, Privacy, Comments. Turn on “Hide offensive comments” and select “Manual filter” to block specific words. Better yet, limit who can comment on your posts to just your followers or people you follow.
Block DMs from strangers: Settings, Privacy, Messages. Change it so only people you follow can message you. If you want to stay somewhat open, at least move message requests to a filtered folder you never have to see.
Control who can tag or mention you: Settings, Privacy, Tags and Mentions. You can limit this to just people you follow, or turn it off entirely.
Use the Restrict feature: If someone’s harassing you, don’t block them (they’ll just make another account). Restrict them instead. Their comments will only be visible to them, and you won’t get notifications. They won’t know they’ve been restricted.
Limit interactions: Another option is to go to Settings and Activity and select Limit Interactions. This automatically filters out potentially harmful comments and messages from accounts that might be targeting you.
These settings take five minutes to adjust. And suddenly, these “bot armies” can’t touch you.
The real power move
The kids in these Telegram groups are counting on you being afraid. They’re counting on you feeling overwhelmed. They’re counting on you shutting down your account or hiding your Jewish identity online.
Don’t give them that.
Adjust your settings. Protect your peace. And keep posting whatever you were going to post anyway.
They’re just kids playing a game. You’re living your actual life. Once you understand that, they lose.
A note to parents
If your kid is getting targeted, I know how terrifying this feels. But help them understand what’s actually happening. Show them the settings. Teach them that anonymous hate from strangers on the internet is not a real threat to their safety.
The goal of these attacks is to make Jewish kids feel unsafe being openly Jewish online. The counter to that isn’t hiding. It’s understanding the game and refusing to play.
The bottom line
Yes, there are organized groups targeting Jewish accounts on Instagram. Yes, they’re real. Yes, they’re annoying, hateful, and shouldn’t exist.
But they’re also just kids with Telegram accounts and too much free time. They have way less power than the fear they generate.
Understand what you’re dealing with. Adjust your settings. And stop letting them control your experience online.
They’re not worth your fear. And they’re definitely not worth your silence.
The writer is the founder of a widely followed platform covering Israeli news, antisemitism, and the global Jewish world. She writes on Israel and Jewish affairs. Follow her on Instagram @antisemitismtoday. Her opinions are her own.