- The situation in which the war between Israel and Hamas finds itself, point by point
- Testimony Lucrecia, of surviving the attack on a 'kibbutz' hiding 12 hours under the bed to make wreaths for the deceased military
The White House has had to deny in record time the statements of US President Joe Biden in which he claimed to have seen the images of children beheaded by Hamas. Singer Justin Bieber has posted a photograph of the destruction of Gaza to show his support for Israel. Images of the extreme violence perpetrated by Hamas have spread through the wildfire on social networks, especially on X, formerly Twitter. Brussels has sounded the alarm about the brutal scale of hoaxes, disinformation and illegal content circulating through digital platforms in the Middle East's powder keg. To X and Meta you have already given the first warning.
"Although the grass is not (always) greener on the other side, sometimes the sky is bluer." With this ironic message, but direct to the jugular, the Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, has announced his jump to the social network BlueSky, after direct clashes with the owner of X. A confrontation, which comes from afar, but which has intensified in the context of the bitter war between Israel and Palestine.
The exchange of reproaches has been carried out publicly. And paradoxically through the social network owned by tycoon Elon Musk. Late on Tuesday, the French commissioner sent an emergency statement to the American reminding him of his obligations under the European Digital Services Act (DSA), which came into force at the end of August: "Following the terrorist attacks committed by Hamas against Israel, we have indications that X is being used to disseminate illegal content and propaganda within the EU."
Under ambitious EU legislation, tech giants are obliged to ensure maximum transparency for users, remove illegal and reported content and put in place all preventive measures to prevent the spread of false or manipulated images or information. Breton gave Musk a maximum of 24 hours to respond. The aftershock arrived less than two hours later through the same channel. And on Wednesday the official one arrived, which the European Commission is currently analyzing.
"Our policy is based on everything being open source and transparent, an approach that the EU supports. List the violations of X to which you allude so that the public can see them, "replied Musk, who in another message came to raise the tone by ensuring that, if "the current trend continues, civil war in Europe will be inevitable." "He is aware of reports from users and authorities about false content and glorification of violence. It is up to you to show that you lead by example, "said the French commissioner, who has not given more details about concrete examples.
First phase of implementation
The DSA is in its first phase of implementation, but failure to comply carries millionaire fines of up to 6% of the company's total turnover. After the first notice to X, the Commission sent another letter to Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, reminding it of its obligations under the DSA, but the message to Mark Zuckerberg was much more decaffeinated. More ear pulls to others such as TikTok, very popular among young audiences, are not ruled out.
These movements and concerns have had an instant aftershock on the other side of the English Channel. British Innovation Minister Michelle Donelan called an emergency meeting with the tech giants to ensure they "swiftly remove all content that fuels Hamas' terrorist acts in Israel." And within the European confines themselves, the German Anti-Disinformation Agency has abandoned X because of "the great increase in hate content".
(Dis)information: the other battle
Propaganda and fake news are a common and nothing new component in the struggle to win the battle of the narrative in any war. With the eruption of a great conflict, the mantra that the first victim is the truth resurfaces. The one now being waged in the Holy Land is no exception. However, the boom and influence of social networks lays the foundation for misinformation to spread unstoppably and at the speed of light. The wars of the twenty-first century are broadcast live. And in the midst of a brutal maelstrom of content that makes it more difficult to settle what is true or not. Which in turn tends to become a greater social polarization.
The European authorities have not spoken of concrete examples. But the amount of viral hoaxes spread by the networks, especially through X in these six days of war, has been a constant. This is not a new phenomenon of the 20s. Already in the Arab Spring, which began in 2011, social networks played a crucial role. But what worries Brussels at the moment is that the new model of the X commanded by Musk gives a sense of false veracity to users who pay for the verified and encourages the camouflage of official accounts in false profiles.
Videos of the war in Syria or Azerbaijan have been attributed to attacks in Israel and Gaza. A clip racking up more than 300,000 views shows the Israeli army dropping white phosphorus bombs on Gaza, but the footage dates back to March and is the work of Russia bombing the Ukrainian town of Vuhledar. Another that has almost 800,000 visits erroneously reveals the kidnapping of a child by a Hamas militant, but had nothing to do with it, according to a Reuters Fact Checks. Even the beheading of dozens of babies on a kibbutz is one of the most viral news stories on social media. But it emanates from a single source and has not yet been proven. Kidnappings, hospital admission of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or a plot through which Hamas would be receiving weapons from Ukraine are some of the hoaxes that are circulating with impunity on the platforms.
After the first hours since the unprecedented and surprising assault of the terrorist group Hamas against Israel, it was Elon Musk himself who recommended following the events that came from the Holy Land through accounts and profiles characterized by publishing false information. One of them had gone viral months ago for spreading an explosion – which never existed – in the Pentagon. He deleted the tweet. But the example largely stages the perverse art of the current functioning of the networks: the impact of disinformation is much greater than the subsequent denial. The NGO Media Matters says the current dispute between Israel and Palestine is "the first test for X in the midst of a global crisis." "The platform has failed miserably. Misinformation proliferated as verified paid accounts spread misleading videos, manipulated photos, and misinformation."
- European Union
- Gaza Strip
- Israel