Since the initial [Oct. 7] attack, disinformation watchdogs in the region have been overwhelmed by unfounded narratives, manipulated media and conspiracy theories. The content has spread in enormous volumes at great speed: video game clips and old news reports masquerading as current footage, attempts to disavow authentic photos as artificially generated, inaccurate translations and false accusations distributed in multiple languages.
In the fog of war, rumors and lies are especially dangerous, capable of taking on the veneer of fact and affecting decisions. Fact checkers and misinformation analysts are meant to be part of the defense, offering a cleareyed examination of the available evidence.
The work, however, is hard even for seasoned professionals, who faced pushback while fighting false and misleading narratives across multiple elections and a pandemic. In the Mideast, where fact-checking websites and disinformation research are relatively nascent and often poorly funded, the challenges have been compounded.
I don’t understand why people have a problem with fact checking organizations. Whichever side you’re on, unless you’re actively out to cause harm with misinformation, why wouldn’t you want to know what’s true and what’s not?
Don’t underestimate people who have a vested interest in one side of a story and are willing to sacrifice anything to push that agenda.
That and the danger that a group will take their status and abuse it to push a particular agenda despite evidence to the contrary. At that point they’re not fact checking - they’re actively pushing disinformation.