‘Particularly virulent’: How falsehoods fire up online battle to control narratives of Israel-Hamas war
A swathe of misleading content online
As the ground battle between Israel and Hamas rages on, social media platforms such as X, Telegram, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok are rife with content attempting to shape narratives of the war.
Experts say that some of this is misinformation, or content that is simply inaccurate, while some is disinformation, defined as content that is intended to mislead.
Spreading alongside real stories of human suffering are shocking but unverified accounts that have sometimes entered mainstream political discourse before they are deemed factual.
For instance, claims that Hamas had beheaded babies and toddlers, which have not been independently verified, were referenced in remarks by United States President Joe Biden on Oct 11.
A US official later clarified that neither the President nor the administration had seen evidence of this.
People seeking a closer look at the war have found themselves duped into viewing old content masquerading as fresh footage.
This is used in part to “create a sense of outrage”, said Dr Jean-Loup Samaan of the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute.
For example, a widely shared image on X purportedly depicting the Israeli murder of Palestinian children was actually taken in Syria in 2013, said BBC journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh, who covers disinformation.
Many voices with a particularly virulent streak
The emergence of false and misleading content on the Israel-Hamas war is to be expected, said experts.
“Like any conflict, like the conflict in Ukraine at the moment, there is always an element of misinformation or disinformation on both sides to make their narrative the most compelling,” Dr Samaan told The Straits Times.
While it is not easy to discern what lies behind this cacophony of voices online, Dr Samaan said that governments and non-state actors have an interest in supporting information campaigns backing their respective agendas.
“Hamas will conduct an information campaign that emphasises the brutality of the Israel Defence Forces’ operation on Gaza, while Israel’s government will report on Hamas’ terrorist tactics to consolidate the legitimacy of its ongoing operation,” he said.
Third parties to the conflict are also looking to shape the narrative to serve their broader interests, including “to portray the American response as part of the problem”, Dr Samaan added.
Associate Professor Marc Owen Jones of the Hamad bin Khalifa University in Qatar said individuals also have a role to play.
“The polarisation of the conflict means that people on both sides are less willing to accept that ‘their side’ may be capable of brutality, so people may share false narratives simply because they agree with them,” the disinformation expert told ST.
The misinformation and disinformation surrounding the Israel-Hamas war, while not necessarily of a larger scale than past conflicts, are “particularly virulent”, said Prof Jones.