In the aftermath of Israel’s occupation of Palestine, misinformation oftenaligns with anti-Palestinian sentiment and Islamophobia, fueled by the useof social media. Notably, a report from Al-Jazeera reveals that asignificant portion of the disinformation campaigns related to Hamas’sOctober 7 attack on southern Israel can be traced back to right-leaningIndian accounts.
These “disinfluencers,” who regularly spread misinformation, tend toexhibit a negative bias against Palestine while supporting Israel, asverified by BOOM, a reputable Indian fact-checking service. They haveperpetuated stereotypes that unfairly depict Palestinians as inherentlyviolent. For example, a video falsely claiming to show Palestinian fightersabducting young girls circulated widely, although it likely depicted aschool trip to Jerusalem. This misleading video garnered millions of views,with many of the accounts sharing it originating from India.
In another instance, a video falsely depicting Hamas kidnapping a Jewishbaby gained widespread attention, with seven of the top 10 most-sharedtweets featuring the video originating from India. These deceptive videosoften come from accounts that also engage in anti-Muslim rhetoric on theplatform, further exacerbating the problem.
India has been grappling with an issue of Islamophobia, which has grownwith the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP). A report by the Islamic Council of Victoria revealedthat a significant number of Islamophobic tweets can be linked back toIndia.
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The Palestinian cause has attracted Islamophobic individuals on socialmedia, some of whom are associated with what is known as the “BJP’s ITCell.” This group has played a role in amplifying online hatred againstPalestinians.
Elon Musk’s acquisition of X and his reduced focus on combatingmisinformation on the platform may have set a precedent for other techgiants like Meta and YouTube, as they appear to be reassessing theirefforts to combat hate speech, disinformation, and harmful content. TheEuropean Union even warned Musk about the surge in disinformation on Xfollowing the Hamas attack on Israel.