Supported by
By Tiffany Hsu and Sheera Frenkel
In the frantic early hours of October 7, amid howling sirens and rumors of gunfire along Israel’s southern border, Achiya Schatz ran with her son and his wife, who was heavily pregnant, to a bomb shelter near Tel Aviv.
He didn’t stay long.
Open this article in the New York Times Audio app on iOS.
The first reports of the Hamas attack were already fusing with rumors, sweeping into social media feeds and private chat groups in an emotionally charged and largely unverified mass. Mr. Schatz, one of the best-known disinformation researchers and fact checkers in Israel, rushed back home to his computer, knowing he had little time to stop the false claims from metastasizing.
In a way, it’s already too late.
Since the initial attack, disinformation tracking organizations in the region have been defeated through baseless narratives, manipulated media, and conspiracy theories. The content spread at high speed in huge volumes: video game clips and old news stories disguised as existing images, attempts to discredit the original images as artificially generated, mistranslations, and false accusations spread in languages.
In the fog of war, rumors and lies are especially dangerous because they can appear to be facts and influence decisions. Fact-checkers and disinformation analysts are meant to be part of the defense and provide a clear review of the available evidence.
However, the job is challenging, even for seasoned professionals, who have faced resistance as they struggled with false and misleading narratives throughout several elections and a pandemic. In the Middle East, where fact-checking websites and disinformation studies are relatively nascent and poorly funded, demanding situations are even more difficult.
We are retrieving the content of the article.
Please allow javascript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience as we determine access.
Already subscribed? Sign in.
Want all the Times? Subscribe.
Advertisement