When a war unfolds on our screens, every single person regardless of how far or removed from the physical conflict, becomes a potential recruit.
Armies of bots, trolls and paid propagandists take over social media, flooding it with disinformation designed to manipulate our emotions and shape public opinion.
The internet is also a battlefield.
For people who have family and friends in the war zones, social media is a critical tool to keep up with what may be happening to their loved ones.
Even those of us with no immediate personal connections to the region spend some time online. So, escaping a barrage of violent, heart-wrenching, stomach-turning imagery and commentary is nearly impossible.
Earlier in the week, BBC journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh shared on X, the site formerly called Twitter: “I’ve been fact-checking on Twitter for years, and there’s always plenty of misinformation during major events. But the deluge of false posts in the last two days, many boosted via Twitter Blue, is something else. Neither fact checkers nor Community Notes can keep up with this.”
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The spread of disinformation — false or misleading information that is intentionally spread with the purpose of deceiving or manipulating others — affects all of us. It’s designed to provoke intense feelings of anger and disgust, hijacking our more rational brain.
When we are in this state, whether the information is true or not, we are much more susceptible to dehumanizing those we believe are committing or supporting such acts.
Also, seeing content that confirms what we already believe to be true and validates our biases feels affirming. We all want to be on the side of righteousness, justice and the good.
In the fog and chaos of war, discerning what has actually happened can take time. Misinformation, which refers to false reports unintentionally spread, is also common, which is understandable. And even credible and legitimate news sources, which try to vet and verify information, can make mistakes.
The specific details about what happened and is unfolding since these events are fueling some confusion: On Oct. 7, Hamas attacked Israel killing more than 1,200 people in assaults on kibbutzim, a music festival and border towns. At least 150 civilians, including many children, and soldiers were taken hostage. Israel has declared war on Hamas, beginning a major military operation and complete siege of Gaza, where more than 1,500 people have died so far. Israel has cut off all food, water, fuel and electricity to more than 2 million people in the Gaza strip.
One of the most graphic and horrifying stories that has circulated widely is that Hamas fighters in Israel. President Joe Biden referenced this while addressing Jewish community leaders. A spokesman later clarified that neither U.S. officials nor the president have confirmed such reports independently nor seen any photographic evidence of it. Biden’s comments were based on claims from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman and media reports in Israel. The reports are still unconfirmed, but the claims have had 44 million impressions on Twitter.
Murdering innocent children is an atrocity and war crime regardless of the horrific details. But verifying the accuracy is critical.
If stories of brutal and barbaric acts, for which there is no independent verification, are propagated, it is used as a tool to convince people that others are less than human and deserve to be treated as such.
Furthermore, if it turns out that stories about brutality are unfounded or untrue, it gives ammunition to those whose goal is to minimize or obscure war crimes. It leads well-intentioned people to wonder about the accuracy of other vetted reports.
This is one of dozens of examples of conflicting reports, some of which have been debunked and others that are true. that researchers uncovered a network of 67 accounts on Twitter/X social platform that are coordinating a campaign of false, inflammatory content related to the ongoing war. Old videos, fake photos, even video game footage and fabricated documents have flooded our social media feeds. , an independent fact-checking organization based in India, found that much of the hate and disinformation is coming from accounts in India that have purchased the blue verification check on X/Twitter. The symbol noting verification no longer means a source is verified or who they claim to be.
If billion-dollar social media companies refuse to invest in monitoring disinformation, how are ordinary news consumers supposed to do it?
I start by asking myself a series of questions: Am I checking in on the news with credible sources from a diversity of viewpoints, across the political spectrum? Who else has confirmed this information? What types of sources are sharing this information? Have I checked through my own Google search multiple places to try to find evidence of this claim?
It takes some extra work, but I do not want to contribute to fanning the flames of a raging fire.
It’s a way of holding on to our own humanity.