As Israel continues its bombardment of the Gaza Strip, its restrictions on journalists’ access to the region are under scrutiny. New data released Thursday suggests Israel’s tactics are fueling an “information war” with perverse incentives for hate-mongers and conspiracy theorists.
The Committee to Protect Journalists’ preliminary estimate is that 95 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, and the vast majority of those journalists are Palestinian. At the same time, Israel’s decision to deny entry to international journalists has infuriated activists and activists the Foreign Press Association.
Israel’s Supreme Court in January upheld a ban on journalists entering Gaza imposed after the Hamas attack, the Times of Israel reported; The few foreign journalists admitted were under military escort and subject to censorship. And earlier this month, the Knesset passed a law giving the government the ability to shut down foreign media outlets such as Qatar-based Al Jazeera.
Israel’s decision raises “questions about what Israel does not want international journalists to see,” the Foreign Press Association said in a news release on Monday.
On the same day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that Israel’s refusal to allow international journalists to enter the Gaza Strip had triggered an “information war” that was making the already harrowing situation in the region even more traumatic. “The denial of entry to international journalists in the Gaza Strip allows disinformation and false narratives to thrive,” he said.
The White House co-signed this statement on Thursday:
“We made it clear to the Israeli government that they should let more journalists in,” Gaza said @StateDeptSpox Matt Miller said it would be beneficial to see what’s going on inside.
— Alex Marquardt (@MarquardtA) April 11, 2024
Israel’s war with Hamas – which began after the October 7 terrorist attack but evolved into a wholesale annihilation of the Gaza Strip – has also become a vacuum into which conspiracy theorists and propagandists can pump disinformation and hate. This is a point I discussed with Joy Reid and my colleague Brandy Zadrozny at The ReidOut last fall.
And new data released Thursday by the watchdog Center for Countering Digital Hate shows how profiteers have led banks to spread dubious and bigoted claims about the ongoing conflict. The report is “Hate Pays: How X Accounts Are Exploiting the Israel-Gaza Conflict to Grow and Profit,” and you can read it here.
“Accounts that post anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim content about the Israel-Gaza conflict have been gaining new followers on the platform at a significantly higher rate since October 7th.”
The report highlights the crisis simmering over Israel’s refusal to allow journalists into the Gaza Strip. Instead of reporters who can provide accurate information about what is happening in the region, people are turning to unreliable sources who are using this opportunity to incite hatred and sow division.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com