Raise a Glass to Freedom
8 min read
Iran, Russia, China and terrorist organizations are flooding social media with anti-Israel content.
About half of the population receives their news from social media at least some of the time. With the current fighting between Hamas and Israel, posts about the war are in overdrive, being viewed billions and billions of times. We’re drowning in memes, posts, TikToks, videos and hashtags.
Overlooked in this social media frenzy is a sobering fact: much of the content related to Israel, Hamas and Gaza is posted by shadowy government agencies in Iran, Russia, and China, and terrorist organizations like Hamas and militant groups in Iraq as well. Each time you consume social media content you’re opening yourself up to being manipulated by hostile states and actors.
A principal sponsor of Hamas, Iran has been championing the terrorist organization online. Iranian accounts “have been spreading particularly harmful content that includes glorification of war crimes and violence against Israeli civilians and encouraging further attacks on Israel” since the October 7 Hamas terror attacks that sparked the current war. That’s the conclusion of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a London-based think tank that tracks misinformation and extremism online.
Iran’s news agency spread the false claim that CNN staged an attack by Hamas on one of its television crews.
Iran’s online campaigns take various forms. Armies of bots post and spread misleading content on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), creating the impression that huge numbers of people are sharing anti-Israel memes and posts. Iran’s Tasnim News Agency has generated a huge amount of content, posing as an independent, reputable news outlet. One of Tasnim’s notable successes in recent weeks has been spreading on Telegram the false claim that CNN staged an attack by Hamas on one of its television crews.
Some of Iran’s other proxy terrorist organizations have also been posting prolifically online. Iran supports a network of Shi’ite terror groups throughout the Middle East; in addition to training and funding Hamas, Iran also controls Hezbollah, the Houthi rebel group, and the Muqtada al-Sadr movement and other paramilitary groups in Iraq. These Iraqi groups have “posted identical messages and photos,” notes Cyabra, an Israeli company dedicated to uncovering online bots and threats. Cyabra documented that Muqtada al-Sadr’s posts have reached tens of millions of social media users.
Russia has been amplifying Iranian misinformation campaigns both through state-controlled bots, state-affiliated social media accounts, and through Russian state-affiliated media outlets. Take the explosion at Gaza’s Al-Ahli Hospital, which was found to be caused by a malfunctioning rocket launched by the Hamas-allied terrorist group Islamic Jihad. Instead of posting accurate information about the blast, Russia’s RT (Russia Today) television network reposted a statement by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi blaming Israel for the blast and calling it a war crime. Russia’s Sputnik News inaccurately reported that the United States supplied a bomb that landed on the hospital. Cyabra found that in the day after the hospital blast, fully one third of posts about the explosion on X were from inauthentic accounts. Many appeared to be recently opened and controlled by the Russian government.
Some of Russia’s affiliated news sources are downright bizarre. Sputnik News recently “reported” that Israel is using foreign mercenaries to fight in Gaza. Although such outlandish claims are easily debunked, by repeating lies and smears, Russian misinformation sources are steadily eroding some people’s trust in mainstream news sources.
After the October 7 attacks, many pro-Russian Telegram accounts immediately switched from posting about the war in Ukraine to posting entirely about Israel. One popular Arabic language anti-Israel Telegram channel has been found to be controlled by the Russian mercenary militia formerly known as the Wagner Group.
The Chinese government has amplified Iranian and Russian social media misinformation campaigns in its own social media channels. One example is an incorrect story run by Iran’s Tasnim News Agency on October 10 about Israel supposedly using phosphorus bombs against civilians in Gaza. The baseless charge was soon repeated on China’s Internet Information Center, run by China’s propaganda office. Chinese government officials posted photographs of battle scenes, none of which were taken during Israel’s current war with Hamas. The post was reposted several times on Weibo, a popular Chinese social media app, including by the account of the Guancha news outlet, which has 2.5 million followers.
China spends billions of dollars annually on foreign information manipulation efforts.
The US State Department has documented that China “spends billions of dollars annually on foreign information manipulation efforts.” With a vast array of resources to sow online disinformation and manipulate public opinion, China is becoming a major player in online misinformation worldwide. Worryingly, antisemitism has surged online in Chinese forums since the October 7 attacks. “Antisemitic remarks have flooded China’s heavily censored online platforms,” notes the Voice of America. An array of Chinese commentators have railed against Jews online and declared that Israelis deserved to be massacred by Hamas.
Misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war “is being seen by millions, hundreds of millions of people around the world and it’s impacting the war in a way that is probably just as effective as any other tactic on the ground,” explains Rafi Mendelsohn, Cyabra Vice President. He’s documented over 40,000 bots (fake accounts) that have been set up since Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel. The numbers of inauthentic online actors are so large that Cyabra assumes government actors are participating in the proliferation of fake accounts.
This tsunami of state-sponsored lies online is having a huge effect in the real world. The Economist magazine studied over a million social media posts on Instagram, X, and YouTube between October 7 and October 20 related to Israel and Hamas. “On October 7 the two sides had roughly equal shares of support.” the magazine reported. But this eroded significantly over time. “By October 19th pro-Palestinian posts were 3.9 times more common than pro-Israel ones.” In the United States, one October 20 poll found that anti-Israel social media posts outnumbered pro-Israel posts two to one. In Britain, the margin was six to one.
While overall, support for Israel remains high, it’s eroding sharply among young people who are much more likely to use social media. “One cause of this gap” between overall popular support and online views “is age,” The Economist notes. “Social-media users skew young, and such people are unusually pro-Palestinian in their views.” Recent polls bear this out.
In the United States, while older voters overwhelmingly approve of the way Israel is responding to continued Hamas attacks, among 18-34 year olds, a majority - 52% - disapprove of the way Israel is responding. While most Americans overall support sending more military aid to Israel, a large majority - 65% - of young Americans oppose this.
This represents a huge shift in how young people look at the world and approach core moral questions. 52% of 18-24 year olds in the US say they side more with Israel than Hamas, yet nearly as many - 48% - say they side more with Hamas. (Among Americans 65 and older, 95% say they side with Israel and 5% with Hamas.) 51% of young Americans feel that Hamas’ murder of 1,400 Israeli civilians on October 7 was justified; only 49% of young Americans say it cannot be justified.
Foreign actors have taken note of the way emotional, visceral news reports and posts can sway users and are tailoring their content accordingly. Their influence seems to be falling most heavily on young people, who are most likely to spend more time engaging with social media and who enjoy the seemingly more authentic news reports they’re able to access there.
Fighting back against the combined media might of Iran, Russia, China, and sundry terrorist groups might seem impossible, but there are certain steps you can take. You can limit your social media use, and engage with social media more critically. Resist the temptation to believe everything you watch and read online, and think twice before engaging with unknown accounts.
“Mainstream media” gets a bad rap these days, but established newspapers, magazines, and online sites are often more reliable than unfamiliar purveyors of news, which might be controlled by foreign governments or reposting content that is. Exercise caution while using social media, and try to verify news that you read online. Together, we can fight back against online misinformation and anti-Israel slanders.
Read about 5 More Myths About Israel’s War with Hamas.
A lot of the “mainstream media” is just as bad, providing misinformation that is biased against Israel.
If you get Human Rights Watch Group, Amnesty International to change their reports of Israel being” oppressors and occupiers”, you might have a chance at fighting back anti Israel opinions.
Please list the organizations that are better at informing us about the truth since we don’t live in Israel.
I follow all sorts of Instagram accounts and I see where the misinformation lies.
Ms Sharon Savage
War is ugly and it is tragic that Palestine civilians are suffering, Hamas started this on October 7th, raping, mutilating, women, young girls, and were on a killing spree of civilians! There are civilian hostages as young as maybe a week old now.
We are not living in a bubble, it is a horrible lnightmare and I grieve with those Israelis and foreigners, coming from not a Jew yet.
Aish normally has excellent analyses but this is nonsense. For example, the Dutch news agencies who write against Israel are all Westerner, hating Jews all their lives. Nice, 'decent,' mannered, learned, talented bigots, always spewing low-level Jew-hatred, but now encouraged by October 7 that to exterminate all Jews is possible, and feeling responsible to aid their Chamas buddies in their hour of need.
Ha, that's what's to be expected from the Brits; when Israel finally tries to set the record straight, they have the chutzpah to call it propaganda -- how ironic!
So you think you're quoting "history," do you? Rather, you're spewing "his story" --Hamas, Iran & their ilk -- all rabid Jew haters, but not for the fictional reasons you list; you're just sucking up their propaganda without even knowing what you're talking about!
I agree - and all those things are being done by Arab leaders to their own people; most especially Hamas.
Re reading the history, make sure to access reliable, verified sources. Otherwise you’re reading fiction.
You are engaging in 'what aboutism'. No one denies Hamas atrocities. No one should deny Israeli atrocities, but this is what is happening.
Hamas brags about the atrocities they committed and made them available for the world to see; that's why the likes of you can't deny them!
The "atrocities" you accuse Israel of, however, were merely reported by scheming liars for the purpose of propaganda.
Certainly, Israel hasn't done everything right, but just as certainly, they are not guilty of the sins you blame them for AND no other country in the world would treat enemies who have been vowing to annihilate them for almost 8 decades as humanely as Israel has (apparently mistakenly) treated theirs!
What bitter irony in nox's statement! Indeed he/she is blind to the facts because that serves his/her purpose.
I guarantee that the only ones "worth talking to" for this person are those who are trying to (rather thinly) disguise their rabid "blame those Jews for everything" mantras with talk of "documentation."
Here's a challenge: Bring this so-called documentation to the public from a verifiable & reliable source, the same way that Aish and others have been doing; otherwise, you're the one who's not worth listening to!
Fact is, of course, that folks like this don't want to know the truth, and would refuse to recognize it if they fell over it: ISRAEL IF FIGHTING AN EXISTENTIAL WAR, but of course, you won't admit this, nor the history behind it. Unfortunately, you're a dime a dozen.
It can be seen that you are subscribing to the paradigm that if Israel does something, it’s wrong; while when anyone else does the same thing, it’s OK.
For the rest, see Anonymous’s post.
Dr Yvette,
11,000 civilians have been killed in Gaza in 30 days. There is military operation around the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza, a few babies have died because there is not enough oxygen supply there. .
Please clarify if these are fake news from the sources you mention above.
I do not want to criticize ,but you are living in your own "news bubble" as well - Jewish survival , Hamas is evil, that the operation in Gaza is justified for self defense and to destroy Hamas- this is what I read in JPost and here in Aish. There is no acknowledgement on the consequences of these operation on ordinary civilians.
And then you are concerned when there is a backlash against Jews and the Israeli government.
Please come out of this bubble and acknowledge this sad reality. Thank you.
Another question-IDF claims there are terrorist activities in Gaza hospitals, can this be independently verified?
What about news that the Israeli government is surpressing the right of its citizens to free speech. That even a post in social media supporting Palestinians can land one in jail? Is this true?
What about the violence between Jewish settlers taking over Palestinian land in the West Bank?
Can you clarify?
You are so hopelessly drowning in misinformation and outright lies from the sources mentioned in this article!
I'm not sure that anyone will be able to convince you of the truth; I think you need to discover it yourself by visiting Israel.
If you come through Israel, very likely it’s the Palestinians who won’t let you in. Visiting Israel is proof of sympathy to Israel (or so it’s assumed). People entered and left all the time via “approved” countries.
You got your answer (below), but be aware that you won't get free passage in the territories the way you would in Israel because we have nothing to hide, while they have plenty they don't want revealed!
From your (ob)NOXious tone, though, I doubt you'd admit the truth even when you see it!
Gaza is a massive concentration camp and entrance to and from is controlled by Israel. You certainly have a great deal to hide, hence the continuous PR campaign.
HA, the one thing Israel fails at is hasbara, what you call PR, and that's because Jews won't lie the way their enemies do!
I realize that's an invitation to more ridiculous comments from you, but hey, you're on the wrong forum for that; go instead to mindless social media or join the braindead students at university campuses.
As for us, we're the eternal nation despite our enemies' miserable schemes since time immemorial, and we only become better, more refined people as result of your putting us through the crucible, but you'll get your just desert eventually; may it be soon!
Terrorist activity in Gaza hospitals - yes, I’ve seen live reports where missiles were found stored in baby cots and explosives manufactured in surgical wards.
Re lack of free speech in Israel - false. You can post what you like, but be ready to get verbally blasted by those who know better.
West Bank - no land taken, just terrorist cells destroyed.
I don’t know where you are getting your news from, but I think you should look for a more accurate (and less antisemitic) source.
Are Israelis not “ordinary citizens”? You don’t seem at all concerned about Israel’s traumatised children or her many citizens who were forced from their homes.
Israel is fighting not only for her existence but for the right of non-Moslems everywhere to exist. Which means that unless you are [the correct kind of] Moslem, Israel is fighting for you, too.
You should be grateful.
A Savage can never be grateful, and this lady is on an anti-Israel rampage under the guise of seeking objective reporting.
You can fool yourself, Ms. Savage, but the rest of us can see right through you & your sort!
True, but clarifications have their own merit and are better, I believe, than leaving the lies to fester.
As for Ms. Savage, she begins to sound like a stuck phonograph - endless, empty repetition.