Published October 12, 2023
According to new research, the terrorist group Hamas used social media platforms to instill fear by sharing their videos, statements, and other information as they wage war on Israel.
According to a report, Hamas used Telegram, a messaging platform— not well known in the U.S.— to spread their evil through its direct messaging, group chats, and channels, becoming the top place to get content and information straight from the source.
“A big part of the strategy of inciting terror is not just the attack … but also depends on their ability to incite fear in especially online spaces,” Graham Brookie, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, said.
The terrorist group used Telegram to post graphic and violent videos from its attack on Israel, where women and children were brutally killed. Since the initial attack on the Jewish country, the group’s channel has seen its number of followers skyrocket.
The platform was also used to share explicit footage from the war in Israel, including a woman kidnapped at a music festival near Gaza and families being murdered. Hamas also used its channel to send a statement informing people that the terrorist group would begin executing civilian hostages for every unannounced attack on Gaza.
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SOURCE: https://townhall.com/tipsheet/saraharnold/2023/10/12/how-hamas-used-social-media-to-incite-fear-n2629781
RELATED: X has removed hundreds of Hamas-linked accounts following shock attack
Published October 12, 2023
Social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) said it has removed “hundreds” of accounts affiliated with Palestinian terror group Hamas in an effort to curb the spread of “terrorist content” online.
X CEO Linda Yaccarino said early Thursday that the platform has taken down accounts that violate its “Violent and Hateful Entities Policy” aimed at stemming the proliferation of terrorist content on the platform. The platform has also addressed and removed certain posts that include graphic media as well as violent and hate speech.
The statement came in response to an order from European Union Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton’s for Elon Musk, X’s owner, to outline X’s approach to stemming the spread of misinformation on X.
“There is no place on X for terrorist organizations or violent extremist groups and we continue to remove such accounts in real time, including proactive efforts,” Yaccarino said a letter to Breton.
X’s safety account had said late Monday that posts from daily active users in Israel increased after Hamas launched a surprise attack on the country over the weekend. Users have also shared more than 50 million posts related to the attack, X said. Some of the posts mischaracterized video or showed graphic footage and have driven the spread of misinformation on X and elsewhere across the internet.
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SOURCE: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hamas-war-gaza-twitter-x-removes-content-israel-palestinians/
RELATED: Parents told to delete social media apps to prevent kids from seeing Hamas atrocities
Published October 12, 2023
American and Israeli parents say they have received messages from schools, temples, synagogues and peers following the Hamas terror attack urging them to delete social media applications off their kids’ phones.
The warning came after the military wing of Hamas threatened to kill an Israeli hostage with every Israeli “targeting” of civilians in Gaza, and then broadcast the executions “in audio and video.”
“It has come to our attention that deeply disturbing videos, including footage of hostages, may be spread across social media in the near future,” a principal at a public school in New York City said in an email this week, quoting from a message she said had been forwarded to her.
“These videos and images will likely be shared through Instagram, TikTok and other social media outlets,” the email went on to say. “We strongly encourage you to consider having your children delete these apps for the time being, putting up additional parental controls, and/or to assist them in exercising extreme discretion around social media.”
The messages have been sent to parents in other states that are home to sizable Jewish populations, including Maryland and New Jersey. It was not immediately clear whether a particular organization was encouraging schools to send out warnings or whether schools were acting independently.
