Muslims face discrimination online from other users and from platforms themselves — through removals without cause, shadow banning, and inconsistent enforcement. Platforms have the power, and the responsibility, to change that.
Muslims are among the most likely to experience discrimination on social media platforms, both from other users and from the actual social media companies.
ISPU’s American Muslim Poll 2025 shows that Muslims (49%) and Jews (46%) are more likely than Protestants (24%) to report facing discrimination on social media from the social media platforms or companies themselves. Discrimination from social media companies can take many forms, including being kicked off of the platform without cause, having content restricted (“shadow banning”), and inconsistent enforcement of hate speech policies.
who faced religious discrimination reported discrimination from other users on social media in 2022 — compared to 45% among the general public.
Additionally, social media platforms may also harm Muslims (and other groups) by failing to protect users from identity-based harassment and bullying. In 2022, ISPU found that 56% of Muslims reported discrimination from other users on social media, compared to 45% among the general public.
Islamophobia continues to grow across social media platforms. The Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH) published a study of posts on X (formerly Twitter) around the time of the 2025 mayoral election in New York City. Their report revealed between June and October, leading up to the election, there were 35,522 Islamophobic and xenophobic tweets, which received 7.37 million likes and 2.01 million retweets. Of these, 72% labeled then mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani a terrorist, and another 8% pushed narratives of “sharia law” and Muslims “taking over” the United States.
Source: CSOH
Another study by CSOH found a sharp rise in the reach of Islamophobic content on X targeting Muslims in the U.S. after the onset of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran. A qualitative analysis of these posts revealed several themes: the use of dehumanizing language when referring to Muslims; calls for policies such as barring, removing, or imprisoning Muslims in the U.S.; and destruction of mosques.
The study also revealed a gap in the enforcement of platform policies such as “violent speech” and “hate, abuse, or harassment.”
The following recommendations are geared toward social media companies and platforms. The recommendations are adapted from American Muslim Poll 2022: A Politics and Pandemic Report, Islamophobia and the New York Mayoral Election: An Analysis of Islamophobic and Xenophobic Narratives on X Targeting Zohran Mamdani (June 24–October 31, 2025), and The US-Israel War on Iran and the Rise in Hate Against Muslim Americans.
Islamophobia is a form of discrimination, bias, and racism against Muslims and consequently those who appear to be Muslim that relies on stereotypes of Muslims and Islam that can result in their unequal treatment. Islamophobia is structural and can be seen in American social structures, laws and policies, media narratives, and ideologies. It also exists in interpersonal interactions between individuals that result in the unjust treatment of Muslims and those misidentified as Muslims in society.
