When violence broke out in Israel and Gaza, the world took to the internet, expressing shock and outrage at the horrific events. But among the photos, videos and seemingly informative posts, there was an unprecedented amount of misleading or outright false information, generating significant public attention.

In this digital age, with trending content and news available at the click of a button, misinformation spreads like wildfire, turning focus away from the realities of current events, inaccurately shaping audience perspectives and sparking further contention over extremely sensitive and volatile issues.

Social media has been used as a tool by those affected by violence in Israel and Palestine in the past. Most notable was in another outbreak of violence during the 2021 Israel-Palestine Crisis, when social media was used to bring awareness to the brutal reality of the conflict. But now, viral gory images and videos, as well as unfounded claims, are being used to grab attention and spark outrage.

Twitter, which has largely stepped back from fighting against disinformation under Elon Musk’s leadership, has been particularly irresponsible in allowing misinformation to reach millions of people. Posts included clips from the video game “Arma 3” that were purported to be footage of Hamas militants firing missiles at Israel, footage from the Syrian War being reported as Hamas rockets, as well as false claims of Israel bombing a church in Gaza.

Additionally, a fake White House...

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