How hard is it to find real people in Gaza? An analysis of an Israeli viral video claiming to show a woman being attacked in 2015 in Guatemala

One viral video claims to show a Hamas fighter shooting down an Israeli helicopter — but it’s a clip from the video game Arma 3. A video purporting to show an Israeli woman being attacked in Gaza was filmed in 2015 in Guatemala. An unverified voice message circulating on WhatsApp, along with the note “forwarded many times,” says a military official has instructed Israelis to stock up on cash, fuel and groceries. The Jerusalem Post newspaper and fake accounts belonging to them spread false information before they were suspended by X.

This is the hardest time I have ever had covering a crisis like this, said the researcher, known online as the Intel Crab. On the ground news outlets struggle to reach audiences without an expensive blue check mark. Xenophobic goons are boosted by the platform’s CEO. End times, folks.

“It’s getting incredibly hard to find people that actually live in Palestine or in southern Israel,” Peden tells WIRED. “It’s been incredibly hard to find their preliminary information and share their videos and photos. A large majority of people in that area don’t speak English but preliminary sources are not being amplified, which is a perfect storm.

Attacking Israel: The Cybercrime that Activates in the War Between Israel and the Red Sea: The Case of Antionymous Sudan and Killnet

The blue checkmark encourages people to pay X $8 a month for a premium subscription, which results in posts from people with blue checkmarks reaching the top of the news feeds for people interested in the conflict.

Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, some prominent hacktivist groups backing Russian interests have emerged, including gangs known as “Anonymous Sudan” and “Killnet,” both of which appeared to wade into the conflict between Hamas and Israel this weekend. Some groups have also been active in reaction to India’s support of Israel, both in favor of and against this support.

“I saw at least 60 websites get DDoS attacks,” says Will Thomas, a member of the cybersecurity team at the internet infrastructure company Equinix who has been following the online activity. Half of those are Israeli government sites. I’ve seen at least five sites be defaced to show ‘Free Palestine’–related messages.”

Most prominently seen in the war between Russia and Ukraine, it is increasingly common for both ideologically motivated hackers and cybercriminals to remotely join the chaos on either side of an escalating conflict by attacking government systems or other institutions.

Some of the groups that have been identified are self-proclaimed “Islamic” hacktivists that support Palestine. These groups have historically targeted India and have been around for years” Leslie says. “Pro-Russian hacktivists that are pivoting to target Israel, likely with the intent of sowing chaos and spreading Russian state narratives. It’s new in that they were launched within the last days, and have limited activities before this weekend.

A Video Game Clips and Old Videos Are Flooding Social Media About Israel and Gaza by a Palestinian Kidnapped Baby in Gaza

As a result, accounts are able to “buy this veneer of legitimacy and credibility,” and have a “direct profit incentive” to maximize views of their posts, even if they don’t have new information to share, Brooking said.

Some of these accounts may suggest things that aren’t necessarily based on the data that they’re sharing, or they may editorialize more frequently, and even have their own opinions. “In this sort of fast-moving conflict situation where people are making real and impactful decisions based off what they’re seeing on the platform, the consequences are deeply harmful.”

Both accounts carry “verified” checkmarks, meaning they’ve paid for X’s subscription service. That means their posts get boosted on the platform and they are eligible to earn advertising money.

Musk’s platform recommends that users follow two accounts that have posted spurious claims in the past, including a false report of an explosion at the Pentagon that sparked a brief dip in the stock market.

But many users quickly pointed out the video was originally posted on TikTok in August and bears no indication that it depicts a kidnapped child and a terrorist. The X post has been labeled with a user-generated fact check pointing this out, but has been viewed a million times and remains on the platform despite replies urging the poster to delete or correct it.

A man is playing with a baby in a video that was posted on Sunday by the co-chairman of a group that calls itself Republicans Overseas Israel. The caption claims it depicts a “Hamas terrorist with kidnapped Jewish baby girl in Gaza.”

Source: Video game clips and old videos are flooding social media about Israel and Gaza

War, Propaganda, and War Crime: The Role of War, Russia, and the Kremlin Era on Online Videos and Images

X has emerged as a particular locus for bogus claims and mischaracterized videos and images, as owner Elon Musk has removed many guardrails against the spread of false and misleading narratives.

False and misleading claims are also being used to advance political agendas here in the U.S. The fake memo purporting to show the White House announcing $8 billion in military aid to Israel spread on Facebook was boosted on X by accounts that paid $8 for “verified” checkmarks. The fake memo was attached to false allegations the Biden administration funneled billions of dollars to Hamas in Iran, according to the White House.

“All of these actors of course will be squarely focused on the war and how they can twist perception of the war to benefit their objectives,” said Emerson Brooking, resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab.

The chaos of war and a surge in information online is being used by state actors like Iran and Russia, and other groups to spread propaganda, attack enemies and sow confusion.

“As a result of the increased spread of violence across a range of different social media platforms, as well as the proliferation of malicious messaging applications, war crimes are being used to celebrate attacks, as well as to imply war crimes,” said Moustafa Ayad, executive director for Africa.

This is propaganda 101. He said that in those early hours, you want to have content that suggests a certain narrative, whether it’s the strength of one group over another, or the strength of one state over another.

“The war began with a lack of information because we saw the events happening.” No one knew nothing. An Israeli watchdog group that tracks misinformation said the information entered all sorts of interest groups and fears.

Many online videos are being taken out of context or mischaracterized — a frequent occurrence in breaking news situations where interest is high but verified information is hard to come by.

Comments on Musk’s Restructuring of the X Premium Platform and its Implications for User Engagement and Disinformation Dissemination

Three days after the conflict began, a cross- company leadership group assessed the situation and determined that it required the highest level of response.

Since taking control of the platform a year ago, Musk has restructured it to encourage engagement. As a result accounts that subscribe to X Premium now have a monetary incentive to post content that is engaging regardless of how dishonest it is. At the same time the Safety team posted a new update there was a new piece of misinformation spreading on X.

“​​If successful, X will evolve to be the collective consciousness of humanity or, more accurately, the human-machine collective,” Musk posted in reply to a follower who said he was doing a great job running the company.

The Safety team’s statement also lauded the user-generated Community Notes system and said new accounts were being enrolled to address the flood of disinformation on the platform. The Safety team also revealed that it had removed “several hundreds accounts for attempting to manipulate trending topics.”