Antisemites using ‘gym humor’ videos to smear Jews, evade enforcement

Anti-Jewish social media users post antisemitic material under guise of “gym humor,” evading enforcement mechanisms designed to weed out bigoted content.

By World Israel News Staff

A viral “gym humor” trend in which social media users mimic Orthodox Jewish men and joke that gym equipment was “promised to them 3,000 years ago” is drawing warnings that antisemitic stereotypes are spreading from online fitness content into real-world spaces.

CyberWell, a Tel Aviv-based nonprofit that works with Meta, TikTok and YouTube to combat online antisemitism, said the videos use triceps rope attachments to mimic payot, the sidelocks worn by some Orthodox Jewish men and boys, while portraying Jews as greedy, entitled or obsessed with money.

Some of the videos are set to Hava Nagila, making Jews the clear target of the ridicule, CyberWell said. The content is often framed as satire and spread through hashtags such as #gymhumor.

“This new trend in open gym antisemitism is a direct result of social media platforms’ failure to apply their content moderation policies to AI-generated content packaged as jokes,” said CyberWell Founder and CEO Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor.

“The gym has become another public setting where Jews may feel less safe and less welcome due to an online climate that rewards open hostility toward Jews,” she said. “Platforms must address antisemitism that is disguised as humor and coded cultural references that turn longstanding prejudice into widely shared content.”

CyberWell said it first flagged the AI-generated precursor to the trend, commonly known as “Promised 3,000 Years Ago,” but platforms were initially hesitant to enforce their rules because the videos were presented as jokes.

The group said that delay allowed the content to spread, evolve and move into new formats, including staged gym videos in which Jewish caricatures monopolize equipment, push others aside or fixate on small amounts of money.

CyberWell said comment sections under the videos often escalate beyond satire, including Holocaust distortion, conspiracy narratives and, in some cases, praise for real-world violence, including references to attacks such as the Bondi Beach massacre.

The trend has also appeared outside social media, CyberWell said. Recent footage showed a Jewish woman being harassed on a New York street by an individual using the same “3,000 years” trope.

CyberWell said sustained reporting has led to improved enforcement, including the removal and labeling of some violating content. But it warned that early platform inaction can have lasting effects, especially when antisemitic material is dismissed as comedy.

“The normalization phase, when harmful content is dismissed as comedy, is when early intervention matters most,” Cohen Montemayor said. “Generative AI allows rapid variation and subtle changes that help harmful content avoid detection. Platforms must invest in proactive moderation, expert-informed guardrails and consistent enforcement to prevent emerging trends from becoming embedded and leading to real-world harm.”

CyberWell said the trend reflects a broader pattern in which Jewish symbols, culture and history are repurposed for ridicule, while the use of humor and viral hashtags makes antisemitic tropes more acceptable to mainstream audiences.

The organization said platforms must treat coded antisemitic content seriously even when it avoids explicit slurs, warning that online mockery can quickly become real-world intimidation.