Tech Giants Under Scrutiny for False Content Handling in Israel-Hamas Conflict
Senator Michael Bennet has called out leading tech giants Meta, X, TikTok, and Google for their struggle to effectively curb the spread of false and misleading content surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict on their platforms. In a letter addressed to the company chiefs, Bennet expressed concern about the alarming proliferation of deceptive content that has garnered millions of views since the conflict began.
The misleading content includes visuals from previous conflicts, video game footage, and altered documents, all of which have flooded social media platforms since Hamas militants launched attacks on Israeli civilians on October 7. Bennet pointed out that the algorithms of these platforms have inadvertently amplified such content, perpetuating a dangerous cycle of outrage, engagement, and redistribution.
This criticism follows the rebuke by Thierry Breton, the European Union industry chief, who demanded that these companies take stricter measures to combat disinformation in the midst of the escalating conflict.
Bennet raised questions about the content moderation practices of these companies and requested detailed information by October 31. Although some steps have been taken by the social media firms, including hiring more Arabic and Hebrew-speaking content moderators, removing or labeling over 795,000 pieces of disturbing content within the first three days since the Hamas attack, and taking down harmful content, Bennet deemed these actions insufficient.
In his letter, Bennet called out the companies for downsizing their trust and safety teams over the past year, which were responsible for monitoring false and misleading content. He highlighted that Twitter eliminated 15% of its trust and safety staff and disbanded a related council in November 2022, further reducing staff in recent months. Meta reduced 100 similar positions in January, while Google downsized a team combating online hate speech and disinformation by a third.
Bennet underscored the cascading impact these decisions have had on global violence, paranoia, and distrust. He criticized the platforms for inadvertently contributing to an information ecosystem where fundamental facts are disputed, while untrustworthy sources are consistently identified as authoritative.
The effort to address the dissemination of false and misleading content during the Israel-Hamas conflict remains a pressing concern. Tech giants must confront the shortcomings of their current policies and protocols and take comprehensive actions to safeguard the information shared on their platforms.
