AMSTERDAM: As the situation in Gaza worsens, regulators and analysts say a wave of online disinformation risks further inflaming passions in an electronic fog of war.

An Israeli strike at a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds of Palestinians on Tuesday is the latest focus of the surge of activity as supporters of both sides bolster their own side’s narrative and cast doubts on the other’s.

Reuters fact-checking unit has identified numerous cases of social media posts using fake images and information, and others in which confusion rather than deliberate disinformation appears to have heightened tensions.

An X account under the name Farida Khan claiming to be an Al Jazeera journalist in Gaza posted a message saying they had a video of a “Hamas missile landing in the hospital” in Tuesday’s incident.

Al Jazeera subsequently alerted social media users that the account had no ties to the news service. Al Jazeera said it does not employ a person with the name Farida Khan. The account was later removed.

A video of Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking about Ukraine last year was shared this month with fabricated subtitles warning the US not to interfere in the conflict.

A 2015 video of the lynching of a 16-year-old girl in Guatemala has been misrepresented online as showing a young Israeli woman being burnt by a “Palestinian mob”.

After receiving online criticism about blue and white flags used in her act, the pop singer Pink posted a tweet saying: “I am getting many threats because people mistakenly believe I am flying Israeli flags in my show. I am not.

“I have been using Poi flags since the beginning of this tour. These were used many, many years ago by the Maori people in New Zealand.”

In Illinois a landlord was charged with hate crimes, accused of stabbing a six-year-old Palestinian American boy to death and wounding his mother, who were his tenants. The sheriff’s office said they were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going situation in Gaza Strip.

The EU’s industry chief Thierry Breton called out X, Facebook parent company Meta, TikTok and YouTube for not doing enough to curb disinformation following the attacks. Each company has said they have taken steps to address harmful content.

Although Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has been critical of Israel’s blockade of Gaza, incorrect subtitles were added to a viral video that circulated on X and Facebook in recent days warning the US not to intervene and that Turkiye was “ready to defend Palestine at any price”.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2023