He conflict between Israel and Palestine has caused a wave of misinformation online, with X (Twitter) being the platform producing the most of this type of content. According to a study conducted NewsSecurity, Verified users generate 74% of fake news and many go viral. Payment accounts receive not only a blue badge, but also priority in the fake news distribution algorithm.
During the study, 250 posts with the highest engagement (likes, shares, etc.) were analyzed, which promoted one of the 10 false narratives about the bombing of Palestine. According to the data, 186 of them are from verified X users. In just one week, this content recorded 1,349,979 interactions and was viewed more than 100 million times worldwide.
The list of false or unsubstantiated news includes videos of Palestinian children in cages, a montage of an Israeli child killed by Hamas or theory that the initial attack was the work of Israel and the West. Although misinformation occurs on other platforms, NewsSecurity decided to focus on X since it is the only one that has reduced content moderation.
The organization used the Disinformation Fingerprints system, which extracts and catalogs the major false narratives circulating online.. Each of these is captured as a data seed containing certain characteristics, such as links, hashtags or keywords that spread misinformation.
In accordance with NewsSecurity, Most of the fake news related to Israel’s bombing of Palestine went viral on X (Twitter) before expanding it to platforms like TikTok or Instagram. Although the social network has a function for tagging and contextualizing each post, it does not discredit fake news.
Twitter (X), a nest of misinformation about Israel and Palestine?
Studying NewsSecurity reveals one of the most criticized problems X during the reign of Elon Musk. One of the tycoon’s first steps after purchasing the social network was fire the moderation team. Musk believes that it is harmful for a company to take responsibility for determining what is true or what can be said, since it violates freedom of expression.
To counteract the lack of moderationX (Twitter) implemented Community Notes, a system in which people collaborate to add context to potentially misleading messages. Although the intention is good, its availability is limited and in some cases it is abused. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict NewsSecurity ensures that this function failed to debunk false information in 70% of cases.
“In the first week of the war between Israel and Hamas, analysis found that these fact checks were inconsistently applied to major hoaxes related to the conflict,” the organization noted. Another disadvantage they mention is that Community notes were not used effectively in narratives such as the killing of Palestinian children since 2008 or the million-dollar economic package the United States will send to Israel.
X (Twitter) did not punish users who spread false information. The study found seven verified accounts, some with hundreds of thousands of followers, that were spreading disinformation even before the conflict. Some of them were suspended, but resumed work after the arrival of Elon Musk.
Algorithm X is an ally of fake news
While misinformation comes from both fronts, it is important to note that X Premium is the main culprit. Democratizing the blue badge allows anyone to have a verified account, so the symbol of fame or trust is lost. In addition to that, the algorithm gives preference to those who pay a subscriptionto make your posts more visible.
Elon Musk’s strategy not only makes it difficult to identify false content, but also plays against you in finances. Since the tycoon’s arrival, the company has lost hundreds of advertisers due to a lack of moderation. Some brands are afraid of their ad appearing next to a hate tweet, so they try their luck on other platforms.
Source: Hiper Textual
I am Garth Carter and I work at Gadget Onus. I have specialized in writing for the Hot News section, focusing on topics that are trending and highly relevant to readers. My passion is to present news stories accurately, in an engaging manner that captures the attention of my audience.
