Daily Archives: October 22, 2023

We’re into a new chapter in fake news. The blast at the hospital in Gaza does not mean there are two sides to the story; it means there are two entirely different stories, and neither side is going to back away for a moment and say, you have got a point, let’s look into the matter more carefully. 

First, there’s the question of facts. Any deaths are tragic, but we cannot be sure of the numbers. Did 500 people really die in and around the hospital? Who’s counting? Could the number have been more like 100 or 200? Maybe not, but is there any remote chance Hamas will welcome an independent team of observers to come up with the real numbers, the extent of the damage, the exact location where the missile or missiles landed? 

Of course not. Hamas is not likely to consider inviting or admitting impartial observers to take a look, much less conduct a thorough investigation. Or, if observers are eventually invited, they will surely be selected to be “neutral” on the side of Hamas. Or, if both Israelis and Palestinians are persuaded by some miracle to form a single team, we may be sure they would come out with their own extremely different reports of what happened and who was responsible. 

That is how it’s always been in the quest for incontrovertible facts on which bitter enemies might agree. A joint investigation, if it ever happens, will blow up in rhetoric and false conclusions before it begins.  

Before getting too deep into the topic, let’s assume the Israelis are correct when they say a rocket misfired by Hamas fell short, or off course, landing on or near the hospital. Israeli intelligence, monitoring all that’s going on near its borders, is simply too advanced, too sophisticated to doubt the ability of veteran Israeli analysts to come up with a realistic idea of what happened, even if they failed to warn in advance of the Hamas attacks that have killed more than 1,400 people inside southern Israel. 

That’s not to say that Israel would share all the details of its intelligence or would not be tempted to skew the truth for the sake of convincing the world that the blast at the hospital had to have been perpetrated by a rocket or rockets and not a bomb. Whatever Israel says, however verifiable and irrefutable, there’s not a chance it will resolve the question of who was responsible to the satisfaction of the rest of the world. 

That said, those who are on Israel’s side as an independent Jewish state surrounded by Islamic foes will support the Israeli version regardless of any investigation or corroboration. And we may be equally sure that anti-Israeli states, groups and individuals will go on blaming Israel not only for blowing up the hospital but also for ongoing bombing and shelling intended finally to destroy Hamas. In the end, Israel will have killed many more Palestinians than Hamas killed in its initial attack on southern Israel. 

It’s that reality that provides a certain truth to the anti-Israel campaign waged by Israel’s worst enemies, notably Iran but also Arab nations with which Israel has been trying to form decent relations. Can Israel’s diplomatic ties with its close Arab neighbors, Egypt and Jordan, survive the slaughter? And does Israel, amid all the charges and counter-charges, still have a chance of forming diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, the richest, most powerful Arab nation, with which it was negotiating before the war? 

Not just Israel’s arch foe, Iran, but sympathizers with Palestine throughout the region and the world will go on saying forever that an Israeli plane bombed the hospital. No way will Palestinians, defending their right to recover the land from which they were driven after the founding of Israel as the Jewish homeland in 1948, accept any report or study or satellite or electronic imagery revealing contrary evidence. 

The danger inherent in fake news has still worse consequences. Iran, Islamic but not Arab, may cast off all constraints about finally developing nuclear warheads with Israel as the target. China and Russia will be as reluctant to blame Hamas for its wanton cruelty or to come down on Iran for going nuclear as they are to vote for resolutions in the U.N. Security Council denouncing North Korea for testing missiles carrying nuclear warheads. Those harboring antisemitic sentiments are sure to turn the blast at the hospital into an excuse for denouncing Israel’s very right to exist. 

In the rush to attack Israel, it will be easy to forget the welfare and survival of the 2.3 million Palestinians crowded into Gaza. Israel, looking for revenge, is obviously not worried about them, Nor are Israel’s enemies. They could not have found a more terrific peg for venting their pent-up fury. For them, the survival of desperate people, hungry, thirsty and dirty, cowering in terror, counts for less than the excitement of advancing their anti-Israel agenda 

Donald Kirk has been a journalist for more than 60 years, focusing much of his career on conflict in Asia and the Middle East, including as a correspondent for the Washington Star and Chicago Tribune. He is currently a freelance correspondent covering North and South Korea, and is the author of several books about Asian affairs.   

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Fake news, real victims: The tragedy of the Middle East bombings - The Hill

YouTube will list credible news sources on a "Watch Page" which it will roll out in the coming months

Google-owned YouTube will list credible news sources on a "Watch Page" which it will roll out in the coming months in India, a senior company official said today.

"Today, I am thrilled to introduce 'Watch Page' for news... the Watch Page will recommend videos available from credible sources," YouTube India, head of government affairs and Public Policy, Mira Chatt said at the Google for India event.

She said that the Watch Page will be rolled out in coming months in India.

Recently, the government asked YouTube to identify fake news channels on its platform.

Sources, however, told Press Trust of India that the government has not defined "fake news" in its communication to YouTube.

Mira Chatt said the platform removed more than 2 million videos in India between April and June, 2023 that were violating its policies.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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New YouTube Recommendation Feature After Government Notice On Fake News - NDTV

Aya Isleem, a Palestinian journalist based in Gaza tweeted a photo of what seems to be a Palestinian baby in the rubble, writing just one word Gaza.

Isleem hinted that the baby was Palestinian, who was injured by Israel Defence Forces (IDF), but after many complaints, X (formerly Twitter) flagged the image, explaining that it is actually an AI-generated photo.

Readers added context they thought people might want to know: The image is AI-generated and has AI artifacts on the baby's hand. The generated image has been shared on social media since at least eight months earlier.

A social media influencer, Andy Ng, showed a screenshot of this image 8 months ago when it was also flagged as AI-generated.

Walla! recently reported that the new version of the AI art generator DALLE 3, has reservations about generating images symbolizing Israeli advocacy, like a robust Israeli soldier with an eagle and the country's flag.

While the platform avoids generating conflict-related visuals, users have found workarounds, such as using generic symbols or posing indirect questions. Israelis are innovatively navigating these limitations. The power of DALLE 3 lies in its ability to incorporate text and produce compelling visuals quickly.

For those seeking fewer restrictions, alternatives like Leonardo or Midjourney offer more flexibility on sensitive subjects.

Sacha Roytman Dratwa, CEO of Combat Antisemitism Movement and a world-class expert on social media explained to The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that "The war of narratives and images has taken an unprecedented turn, with evidence suggesting that Hamas is utilizing AI tools to manipulate images, including those of deceased children, as uncovered by X.

"It is deeply concerning to witness how Hamas propaganda resorts to disinformation and fabricated visuals in an attempt to sway public opinion. This organization is employing every means possible to distort facts," Roytman Dratwa concluded.

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Fake news exposed: Injured Gaza baby photo proven to be AI-generated - The Jerusalem Post

The leadership of the Green Party has argued that widespread trolling on social media, and the dissemination of fake news, conspiracy theories, and disinformation, now pose a threat to Irish democracy.

Party leader Eamon Ryan and deputy leader Catherine Martin both devoted key passages of their respective speeches to the partys national convention in Cork to harsh criticism of the baleful effects of social media platforms, where trolls were bombarding people with false information and prejudicial opinions.

Mr Ryan said that was particularly so in relation to messages on climate change. Ms Martin, the Minister for Media, also told delegates that her department was currently working on a national counter-disinformation strategy.

The digital revolution has its darker side, Mr Ryan told delegates during his keynote speech at the conference in Cork.

[Greens in power: Will partys difficult second album turn out to be a hit?]

The algorithms are designed to hold our attention by promoting what we like, confirming our existing prejudices. It is a threat to our democracy as we are bombarded with disinformation, fake news and conspiracy theories.

Mr Ryan said that some with a vested interest in the status quo trolled against those advocating change.

They attack the climate messenger from the safety of a fake ID, he contended.

In comments made during the course of the conference on Saturday, Mr Ryan and Ms Martin also pointed to trolling in relation to other issues, including immigration, refugees, and the ongoing violence in Israel and Gaza.

Mr Ryan said good quality public broadcasting was one way in which to combat such false narratives. He said that such media should be funded from a variety of sources but did not elaborate on the nature of the sources.

The convention focused largely on what the party said was its achievements in Government and claimed that many of its big policy targets set out in the Programme for Government had been achieved.

In the past, small parties in Government were described as the mudguard. This time around we are the vanguard for change, Mr Ryan claimed.

In her speech, Ms Martin said the growth of disinformation and misinformation by bad actors had challenged Irish democracy and Irish society, and had the potential to undermine public confidence in news, information, and the political system.

It is a complex issue and no one approach will solve it. But this Government and I, as Minister for Media, are taking unprecedented steps to address this. Work is well under way in my department on the development of a national counter-disinformation strategy and new laws ... to reduce the availability of harmful online content.

Ms Martin said a counter to that trend of disinformation was top-quality public sector journalism and broadcasting. She instanced the work of RT journalist Paul Cunningham and cameraman Owen Corcoran from the Middle East this week.

In his speech, Mr Ryan said he would campaign to get a polluter pays principle applied at next months COP 28 negotiations in Dubai to make the fossil fuel, aviation, and maritime sectors pay for providing clean power to 600 million people currently without electricity in Africa.

He said he had been supported in the stance by colleagues at the European Environment Council earlier this week.

Mr Ryan and Ms Martin made numerous references in the course of their speeches to the achievements of the Green Party in Government, including the 3 billion capital funding for climate change announced in the budget, the 1.3 billion afforestation programme recently initiated by Minister of State for Forestry Pippa Hackett, as well as policies to bring cheaper public transport, establish new cycle lands, and promote active travel.

Earlier in the day Mr Ryan said that weather systems have gone off the charts, warning against a pattern of shooting the messenger when it comes to climate action.

Asked about his partys low poll ratings, Mr Ryan said that the climate issue had understandably not been to the forefront of peoples mind because of other major events such as Covid-19, the war in Ukraine, and substantial increases in the cost of living.

[Farmers could be paid for land to slow down flood water, Eamon Ryan says]

What we want to do is radical change. Thats not easy. Im very confident that in the nine months to June that tide will turn.

Mr Ryan repeated his prediction that the party could double its number of councillors to 100 and said there was no reason why it could not reach 10 per cent of support in the next general election, which he said would take place in March 2025.

Asked if he would go into a coalition with Sinn Fin if that was the choice the Greens faced, Mr Ryan said his party was prepared to go into government.

I think we should go into government because I think its not a time for sitting on the bench. Its time for action this decade.

So, yes, I think we should be willing to work with all parties. That would involve difficult programme-for-government negotiations, because, being honest, Sinn Fin has not shown an interest in protecting the environment to the extent that we think is appropriate.

[If that is the option] well sit down with [Sinn Fin] and try to make that happen. We get on well with our Coalition parties, and we have got involved with Labour and the Social Democrats. Thats the nature of our party. We tend to try to work with other people.

Speaking to The Irish Times ahead of the conference, Mr Ryan said Ireland must change how it manages land, including paying farmers to encourage new practices, to reduce flooding risk in the future.

Expanding on the point at the conference, the Green Party leader said Ireland would need to improve its flood prediction capability in future to prevent the extensive damage that occurred in Midleton and other Cork towns and villages this week.

Addressing the flood risk in Midleton required as many as six different interventions in the Owenacurra river which flowed through the town, he said.

Its really complex, but we have to to improve our flood prediction capability. We have really good prediction capability around weather now and very good modelling of weather systems. We need to enhance our modelling of flood systems.

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Social media trolling and spread of fake news are threat to Irish ... - The Irish Times

Mohammed Idris, minister of information and national orientation, says the federal government will not trample on the rights of citizens in its fight against fake news in the country.

In an interview with NAN, Idris said fake news should be condemned and not tolerated by citizens.

The minister said fake news could lead to anarchy in the society and the loss of lives and property.

We must be in the forefront of advocating for truthful information all the time, he said.

Everything that is fake should not be promoted. This is because it can lead to anarchy and destruction of lives and properties.

And by the way, nobody will want his home, country, state or nation to be in tatters because somebody is encouraging fake news.

Fake news should be condemned in all its ramifications. I have said that it is important for all of us to be careful in the way we navigate these waters.

We know that we dont want fake news.

The minister said the fight against fake news must be collective.

We must collectively come together and see ways and means by which these fake news can be tackled without necessarily trampling on the rights of the people, free press and freedom of information, he said.

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FG won't trample on rights of citizens in fight against fake news, says ... - TheCable

The conflict between Israel and Hamas has dominated the medias attention for almost two weeks now. Russian media has been no exception. However, it has taken a unique approach, not shying away from manipulating the truth and spreading outright lies in order to show President Vladimir Putins regime in the best light possible.

Russian television channels at first reacted to the violent Hamas attack with indignation and disgust. But criticism of Israel soon began to dominate their talking points. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallants remark that his country was fighting against "humanoid animals" gave Putins propagandists the opportunity to get on their high horse and condemn all sides of the conflict. "Israel has abolished all the rules of war. The Israeli army continues to level neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip," said presenter Olesya Loseva during a talk show on Channel One on Oct. 11.

A week later, the anti-Israeli rhetoric from Moscow intensified. The explosion at the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza is still under investigation. But Russian propagandists did not hesitate to blame Israel, claiming Hamas lacked shells that were powerful enough.

During the first week of the war, Russian propagandists latched onto confusion in the Western media to discredit their past reports of Russian atrocities in the war in Ukraine. On Oct. 10, journalist Nicole Zedek from the Israeli outlet i24NEWS said IDF officers told her about 40 babies beheaded by militants in a massacre in Kfar Aza. The story spread all over the world, even though the information was not fully verified. According to other journalists present at the scene, the exact number of civilian deaths is unknown. Despite the general confirmation of the crime from soldiers and other journalists on the spot, Russian propagandists clung to the "40 beheaded babies" claim, attempting to accuse the Western media of creating fake news with the account.

"Just one day after the start of the IDF operation, the Western media began to spin stories of another bloody rampage where Hamas militants allegedly killed dozens of babies," Loseva said. Comparisons with the massacre of civilians in Bucha, Ukraine were repeated on Russian TV with clumsy persistence. According to pro-Kremlin spin doctors, if the Western media told a lie once, then everything else they say about the Russian armys actions in Ukraine can be discredited.

Just like they have done with Ukraine, Russian propagandists are using lies and manipulation to distort the words of a country that they do not like. During an interview with Sky News, a journalist asked former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett about the fate that would befall Palestinian civilians. Bennett responded sharply, asking "What is wrong with you? Are you seriously asking about Palestinian civilians?"

Russian propagandist Dmitry Drozdenko distorted Bennetts words, first claiming that Bennett was asked about the babies who are going to die in Gaza. Drozdenko then said Bennett responded "Youre kidding me! So they die. What's the big deal?" Anyone who watched Drozdenkos segment would be left with the impression that Israel had openly adopted a cannibalistic policy against peaceful Palestinians. There was no mention of babies in the original interview.

Another fabrication emerged at the very beginning of the conflict in the Middle East. In the conditions of the ongoing war in Ukraine and the looming end of the Ukrainian Armed Forces summer counteroffensive, propagandists rejoiced at the possibility of putting an end to Western support for Ukraines war effort. "One way or another, this conflict is still reflected in what is happening in Ukraine. Many have begun to understand that Ukraine is like gangrene for Europe. In order to avoid infection, the affected area must be removed," Loseva told viewers on Oct. 10.

On the same day, Meeting Place host Andrei Norkin tried to promote another false narrative that Hamas uses Ukrainian weapons bought on the black market. "Hamas has a huge amount of weapons, which they should not have. They have Javelins and some old samples of Soviet weapons," he said. The propagandist reinforced his assertion with a tweet from far-right U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who wrote that weapons could have come to Hamas from Afghanistan or Ukraine. Russian propagandists presented this statement as the official position of the United States, even though the White House has not commented on these rumors and Taylor Greene is a notorious supporter of conspiracy theories.

The second piece of supposed evidence used by propagandists was the claim that Western media reported grenade launchers with Ukrainian markings being found near the Israeli city of Ashkelon. However, the BBC quickly said they never reported that. The Ukrainian Defense Ministrys press center warned that "Russian propagandists are distributing a video in which representatives of the Hamas terrorist group allegedly show off Ukrainian weapons. In particular, it is claimed in Arabic that Ukraine sold Western weapons to terrorists. The video lasts only 12 seconds and raises many doubts."

In addition to pushing outright fakes, Russian television is playing a more subtle rhetorical game, dubbing the war between Israel and Hamas a personal defeat for the United States and its allies. "This is certainly the collapse of today's unipolar world order. The fear of the United States has simply disappeared!" said Ruslan Kurbanov, a Russian political scientist and a regular guest on propaganda talk shows.

Some of the guests and presenters even began to build conspiracy theories around the idea that the conflict is beneficial to Britain. However, there is no coherence to their claims. Their theories are built on hatred of the Western world and the exaltation of Putin and Russia. According to these propagandists, Russia and China will create a new world on the wreckage of Washingtons international reputation. But until that world comes, it will be necessary to continue spitting bile at the United States.

The mood was summed up by Channel Ones Ruslan Ostashko at the start of Time Will Tell:

"No conflict in the world is without Washingtons involvement now, he declared, adding that the United States had long tried to achieve its objectives by encouraging divisions between peoples and nations. Having failed to get quick results from fomenting the conflict in Ukraine, they have ignited the conflict in the Middle East as well.

The views expressed in opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the position of The Moscow Times.

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Russian Propagandists Are Dancing on the Bones of Israel-Hamas ... - The Moscow Times