Misinformation and disinformation involving the distribution of false, inaccurate or otherwise misleading information has been a prominent and ubiquitous feature of the Gaza war.[1] Much of the content has been viral in nature, spreading online with tens of millions of posts in circulation on social media. A variety of sources, including government officials, media outlets, and social media influencers across different countries, have contributed to the spread of these inaccuracies and falsehoods.[2]
The New York Times described the start of the Gaza war as releasing a "deluge of online propaganda and disinformation" that was "larger than anything seen before". It described the conflict as "fast becoming a world war online" and stated that Russia, China, Iran and its proxies had used state media and covert influence campaigns on social media networks to support Hamas, undermine Israel, criticize the United States and cause unrest.[3] James Rubin of the U.S. State Department's Global Engagement Center called coverage of the conflict as being swept up in "an undeclared information war with authoritarian countries".[3]
During the conflict, the Israeli government and Israeli cyber companies have deployed artificial intelligence (AI) tools and bot farms to spread disinformation and graphic, emotionally charged and false propaganda to dehumanize Palestinians, sow division among supporters of Palestine, and exert pressure on politicians to support Israel's actions.[4][5][6] The Intercept reported that: "At the center of Israel’s information warfare campaign is a tactical mission to dehumanize Palestinians and to flood the public discourse with a stream of false, unsubstantiated, and unverifiable allegations."[6] One such covert campaign was commissioned by Israel's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs. The ministry allocated about $2 million to the operation, and used political marketing firm Stoic based in Tel Aviv to carry it out, according officials and documents reviewed by the New York Times.[4][7] The campaign was started after the October 7 attack, and remained active on X (formerly Twitter) at the time of the New York Times report in June 2024. At the peak of the campaign it used hundreds of fake accounts posing as Americans on X, Facebook and Instagram to post pro-Israel comments, focusing on U.S. lawmakers, particularly those who are Black and from the Democratic Party, including Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader from New York, and Raphael Warnock, Senator from Georgia. ChatGPT was deployed to generate many of the posts. The campaign also involved the creation of three fake English-language news sites featuring pro-Israel articles.[4] In Nov 2024, a report by a United Nations (UN) committee noted that Western social media companies disproportionately removed content showing solidarity with the Palestinian people relative to content promoting violence against Palestinians.[8]
- ^ "Israel-Hamas war misinformation is everywhere. Here are the facts". AP News. 2023-11-02. Archived from the original on 2023-11-03. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
- ^ "The war over fake content linked to Israel-Hamas conflict". PBS news. 28 December 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-12-29. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
NYT 2023-11-03was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c Frenkel, Sheera (5 June 2024). "Israel Secretly Targets U.S. Lawmakers With Influence Campaign on Gaza War". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 8 June 2024. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ Robins-Early, Nick (2024-05-30). "OpenAI says Russian and Israeli groups used its tools to spread disinformation". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2024-09-10. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
TheIntercept20240207was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Johnson, Derek B. (2024-06-05). "Israeli influence operation highlights global disinformation industry". CyberScoop. Retrieved 2025-01-31.
- ^ "UN Special Committee finds Israel's warfare methods in Gaza consistent with genocide, including use of starvation as weapon of war". Archived from the original on 2024-11-14. Retrieved 2024-11-15.