"The combination of the industry of lies and social media networks has long since become a strategic threat to Western democracies," said David Saranga, Director of the Digital Diplomacy Bureau of the Foreign Ministry, in a post on X on Sunday.
הרשתות החברתיות הפכו לאיום אסטרטגי על ישראל.אדייק את דברי: השילוב בין תעשיית השקר והרשתות החברתיות הפך מזמן לאיום אסטרטגי על הדמוקרטיות המערביות. להלן דוגמא למעט מהרעל עימו אנו מתמודדים ברשתות החברתיות:מעל חצי מליון צפיות לציוץ מאתמול בלילה המאשים את חיילי צהל באונס של אישה… pic.twitter.com/QAPOt1vTtq
— David Saranga (@DavidSaranga) March 24, 2024
Attached to his post was an example, which showed another post on X with over half a million views that claimed that IDF soldiers committed physical and sexual violence against a Palestinian woman who was evacuated from Al-Shfia hospital. Notably, the post did not include any sources of the claims and only included some text in quotation marks.
"Here's an example of the poison we are dealing with on social media," he said in the post, "the terminology used in this blood libel is an exact parallel to the crimes committed by Hamas on October 7.
He also noted that the account was created in October and was likely made to spread anti-Israel propaganda.
"It is clear that this is a fake account. The account was created in October 2023. It is an anonymous account originating in Gaza, with no profile picture or information about the user, while the account details include a link for donations. No account can reach 122 thousand followers in less than six months."
"He also added that the account follows users such as Jackson Hinkle, Anastasia Maria Loupis, and other users who have "poisoned the conversation on X with fake news and blood libels. "
He then discussed the issues of fact-checking on social media and the serious threat it poses to Western democracies.
"As of today, no democratic country has the effective means to fight this culture of lies. Even if thousands report the tweet as harmful and it is eventually removed from the platform, the damage has already been done, and millions have been exposed to the lie," he said.
UN Special Rapporteurs repeat this claim on social media
This recent claim of sexual violence against Palestinian women being perpetrated by the IDF is not a new phenomenon. UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls, Reem Alsalem, submitted a report to the UN on this topic in February, a few weeks before a UN special investigation concurred that it had grounds to believe rape occurred in the Hamas attack on Israel.
I lost count of how many renowned journalists interviewed me on the alleged mistreatment of/sexual abuse against Palestinian women by Israeli forces, and never published any article on this. One day I will give a full account in my memoir. https://t.co/uoARcXuVOF
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) March 24, 2024
UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese has also repeated this on X. The posts made by the UN Special Rapporteurs have also been viewed hundreds of thousands of times
Notably, Alsalem made headlines for being 'unaware' of rocket attacks on Israel, and Albanese has been banned from Israel for her comment, stating, “The victims of October 7 were not killed because of their Judaism but in response to Israel’s oppression.”