Israel-Hamas war: Misinformation is being spread across social media – with real-world consequences

False and misleading information has surged online since the militant Islamist group Hamas launched its surprise attack on Israel, manipulating world opinion, fomenting local confusion and bolstering calls for retribution, experts say.

Israel has since rained down retaliatory strikes on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, leaving 180,000 homeless and 2.3 million without electricity or water.

At least 1,200 Israelis and 1,200 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, according to reports.

Rights groups and researchers have warned against social media users sharing misleading or baseless claims, including miscaptioned imagery or altered documents, in an effort to shape public perception.

European Union industry chief Thierry Breton this week urged social media leaders Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg to tackle the spread of disinformation on their respective platforms – X, Facebook, and Instagram – to comply with new European Union online content rules.

Here’s what you need to know about disinformation during the conflict and how it’s spreading:

What disinformation is spreading

There have been four main narratives that have spread across social media, according to Jack Brewster, an editor for news rating website and misinformation tracker NewsGuard.

These are the key fake story lines identified by Brewster:

• that the attack against Israel was a false flag, a campaign perpetrated expressly to lay blame on an opponent.
• that Israel is staging footage of dead...

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