Islamophobic narratives on social media

“Islam” or “Muslims” as a threat to “us” – this is the image that many people in Germany currently have. Why is this the case? One factor is misinformation, the Fact-Checking Service of the German news agency dpa reports

The Bertelsmann Foundation’s “Religionsmonitor” from 2023 found that 52 percent of
respondents view Islam as threatening. Fact checkers regularly encounter posts that
deliberately spread stereotypical portrayals of Muslims to generate emotions such as fear,
anger, or mistrust. The same patterns emerge again and again.

Threat scenario: “Islamization”

Traditions are allegedly being abolished out of consideration for Muslims. Sometimes it’s
Christmas, sometimes it’s the chocolate Easter bunny, which is now supposedly only sold as a “sitting bunny.”

This example shows how the propagators operate: a discount store did indeed use this term.
However, this had nothing to do with consideration for Muslims. A whole range of other products in the assortment continued to have “Easter” in their names. A word is thus taken out of context and placed in a false context to promote the narrative of “Islamization.”

This conspiracy narrative, according to which Muslims want to aggressively impose their faith on others, is often accompanied by racist terms. Some of these are formulated in such a way that not everyone recognizes the message. For example, sarcastic and derogatory descriptions of migrants or refugees are frequently used, such as “importiertes Goldstück” (“imported piece of gold”) or “Fachkraft” (“skilled professional”).

Violence and rumors

Another pattern: acts of violence are attributed to Muslims, even when there is no evidence to support this. In early 2024, shortly after a schoolgirl was killed in a knife attack, rumors about the suspect spread online. According to the police, the suspect was a German citizen, and there was no information about a migrant background.

Social media users frequently cause confusion by sharing misinformation shortly after a violent crime has been reported, hastily identifying Muslims or immigrants as the perpetrators. Especially when investigative authorities and the media initially do not release any details about the motive or suspects, unsubstantiated claims can quickly go viral. It is not uncommon for people to express the suspicion that information is being deliberately withheld, as was the case after the attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg.

Others are using the media attention to spread images that have nothing to do with current
events, but establish an unsubstantiated link to Islam. After the shooting rampage at a school in Graz, Austria, on June 10, 2025, several posts showed a scene in which someone was allegedly shouting “Allahu Akbar.” However, the clip had been recorded in Vienna at the end of May. So far, there has been no information about the motive of the perpetrator in Graz.

False reports from all over the world

However, it is not only after violent incidents or terrorist attacks that disinformation is spread to reinforce prejudices and fears about Muslims. Another popular strategy is to invent claims about other countries in which the alleged “Islamization” is already more advanced.

Recently, German-language Facebook posts claimed that 50,000 Muslim migrants marched
through Melbourne shouting, “We are waiting for orders.” In fact, the video shared showed a
procession in which, according to the organizers, 15,000 to 20,000 people took part, most of
them Australian citizens. The Shiites chanted: “We are at your service, Hussein.” A peaceful
procession is thus reinterpreted as a threat.

For years, a list of claims about Muslims in the UK has been circulating—including a German
translation. It contains supposedly accurate information about Muslim mayors, mosques, and
the employment rate among Muslims. The exact figures give the impression that the information has been thoroughly researched. However, the sharepic consists mainly of false claims.

Where do these narratives come from?

The Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution cites two strategies in this context:
equating certain movements with Islam as a whole and selectively choosing reports that refer to Islam. Islamophobes reject the distinction between Islam as a religion and Islamism as an extremist political ideology. The internet is their “most important mouthpiece.”

The consequences are also evident offline: according to a report from June, anti-Muslim
incidents occur in all areas of life. Adults and children alike are insulted as “knife attackers,”
anti-Semites, or terrorists, and in some cases threatened, reports the “Claim” network, in which employees of counseling centers work together.

This article was produced in 2026 for the project Prebunking at Scale, with support from the European Fact-Checking Standards Network.

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