Beware of fake news on social media, X ‘takes action’ against offensive posts

Tribune Web Desk

Vibha Sharma

Chandigarh, October 12

It is said that there are two sides to a story.

However, in the case of the ongoing Palestine-Israel strife, there also seem to be multiple fake angles, each making the sad, tragic human story even more horrifying and heartrending, building emotions in favour of one particular side.

But first the disclaimer—the purpose of this article is not to take sides or give verdicts on who is right or wrong. The aim is to warn the readers about the dangers of fake narratives on social media platforms like X and WhatsApp, designed specifically to sway sentiments whether in domestic or geopolitical situations.     

Barely hours after armed Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday, social network X went abuzz with messages, videos and photos of the conflict, some also carrying dangerously misleading and mischievous information that had the capacity to flare up emotions of anyone who watched them.

Unverified photos and videos of air strikes, homes being destroyed and posts depicting military violence spread like wildfire on various social media platforms, inviting widespread criticism.

X scrubs illegal content

Elon Musk’s X in particular was flooded with misinformation, heightening tensions across the globe.

On Tuesday the European Commission wrote to Musk warning him over alleged disinformation on X about the Hamas attack on Israel, including fake news and “repurposed old images”.

X, it said, was hosting illegal content and it asked Musk to take quick action.

Amid warnings to stem the spread of fake news around the conflict,  the management of the social network said action had been taken against tens of thousands of messages containing aggressive language and shocking images.

“We continue to actively monitor anti-Semitic statements.”

After European Commissioner Thierry Breton urged the social media platform to throttle disinformation, X Chief Executive Officer Linda Yaccarino posted a detailed response.   

“Every day we're reminded of our global responsibility to protect the public conversation by ensuring everyone has access to real-time information and safeguarding the platform for all our users. In response to the recent terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas, we've redistributed resources and refocused internal teams who are working round the clock to address this rapidly evolving situation.

“Today we responded to the European Commission's letter seeking an update on how we are responding to this conflict. Our work is ongoing. You can find our response below,” Yaccarino said appending the reply.

Why fake news

According to information sourced from various reports, “a reporter from i24 News shared that an IDF commander informed her about the discovery of around 40 infants' bodies, with some bearing signs of horrific violence”.

As reports of the horrific killings of babies by Hamas militants spread on social media, obviously people in Israel and the rest of the world responded with painful anguish to the purported barbarity. Several media houses carried headlines on the purported horrifying “beheading of 40 babies” in the violence.

Media houses also quoted Israeli soldiers being distraught and comforting each other by what they’d purportedly seen.

However, hours later, the Israeli army said there was no information confirming the “allegations”. Turkey's Anadolu Agency was quoted as saying that the Israeli army said that they had no information to confirm reports that babies were being massacred brutally. Hamas denied the allegations calling them “Israeli propaganda fabricated and disseminated by certain Western media outlets that uphold the Zionist narrative”.

According to observers, journalists may not be to blame exactly because “many a time such reports are purposely disseminated to create perceptions”.

The question is whether everything is really fair in war.

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