While the clashes continue in the Middle East, another front runs throughout the world through our screens. Both sides are fighting to impose their narrative, but experts warn of the risk that misinformation will increase tensions between the different parties to the conflict.
This Thursday the European Union asked Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, and Tiktok to present detailed information by Wednesday, October 25, on the efforts they are carrying out to stop illegal content and disinformation about the war between Israel and Hamas. .
The EU lawsuit seeks to ensure that social networks are complying with the new Digital Services Law passed in August, which forces the largest platforms to remove illegal content and limit the spread of fake news. If companies do not comply with the regulations, they can face fines of up to 6% of their annual income.
"In our exchanges with the platforms, we have specifically asked them to prepare for the risk of live broadcasts of executions by Hamas - an imminent risk from which we must protect our citizens - and we ask for assurances that the platforms are well prepared. for such possibilities," said Thierry Breton, the EU's head of digital affairs, referring to warning letters sent to several social networks at the beginning of the conflict.
For more than a week, Elon Musk's platform In response to EU warnings, the platform has reportedly removed hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts and taken steps to remove or label tens of thousands of content since Saturday's attack, X CEO Linda Yaccarino said.
The call to Twitter by the EU comes after the drastic reduction of surveillance over content published on the social network, which began almost a year ago when Elon Musk became its owner. Since then, content moderation capacity has been cut and the accounts of people considered extremists, who had previously been banned, have been restored. It is now also possible to buy a blue tick, synonymous with a verified account, something that previously identified authentic sources.
The war between Hamas and Israel is taking its toll on Elon Musk's cuts. Some researchers warned, for example, that many users had mistakenly believed that an account called “Israel War Room,” distinguished by a gold mark supposedly indicating that it is an official account, was an official Israeli source.
Another example is that of an account of Tuesday's incident. Al Jazeera subsequently reported that it does not employ anyone by the name Farida Khan. The account was later deleted, but the post had already been viewed at least 670,000 times.
At the domestic level, most Israeli television networks have focused their programming on the story of Israeli experiences of the conflict. Long reports about the victims of Hamas incursions in the towns near the border with Gaza or about the efforts of soldiers and volunteers appear on the televisions of the Israeli population. The overexposure to patriotic speeches contrasts with the lack of information about the situation in Gaza. Images of the Strip are shown from afar, but almost no images of the desolation that the Israeli bombings have left inside the enclave.
The Israeli government's latest attempt to control the narrative of the war is an emergency regulation to temporarily close media outlets whose information "harms national security." A text containing the measure has already been drafted and now only needs to be ratified by the security cabinet for it to come into force.
This action specifically targets the Qatari channel Al Jazeera, which according to Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, broadcasts "inflammatory broadcasts against Israel" that "serve Hamas-Daesh (equating the Gaza group with the Islamic State) and other terrorist organizations in propaganda." that encourages violence against Israel.
Since the beginning of the conflict, Al Jazeera has been one of the media that has reported the most on the situation in Gaza, something that does not benefit Israel's image at all. The communications minister summarized Israel's strategy like this: "Israel is at war. On land, in the air, at sea and in ideas. We will not allow broadcasts to damage the security of the State."
At the same time, in just over a week, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs would have paid to publish 30 ads that have been viewed more than 4 million times on X, according to the media Politico, which says it has analyzed the platform's data. The videos and photos published by the Israeli government would have targeted adults over 25 years of age in Brussels, Paris, Munich and The Hague.
