The Hamas-Israel conflict is getting hotter because of Elon Musk
Photo: Israel began launching air strikes on the Lebanese border, killing four Hezbollah members on Monday (9/10) local time. This attack occurred when Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group were involved in war again in the Gaza Strip since last weekend. (REUTERS/SALEH SALEM)
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Since the conflict between Hamas and Israel broke out last weekend, a lot of content related to this bloody incident has been circulating on social media.
On X (formerly Twitter) there are many video recordings showing kidnappings and military operations launched by both camps. However, not all content shows actual field facts.
As a result, fake content, aka hoaxes, make this conflict even more complicated because it triggers hateful reactions from the public. One of them, according to CNBC International, is a video showing the Israeli air force attacking Hamas in Gaza. The video went viral on X and was re-uploaded by many netizens.
Even though the X team has labeled it as 'misleading content', similar re-uploaded videos can still be found on Elon Musk's platform, according to monitoring by CNBC International.
It could be said that As a result, netizens have difficulty finding accurate information regarding updates on the Hamas and Israel conflict in Gaza.
This came into the spotlight, especially after NBC News reported that X was cutting the team responsible for eliminating disinformation and maintaining integrity ahead of the election.
Moments before Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, X also removed the news headline from the link embedded on the platform.
This makes it difficult for external links from credible media organizations to convey information to the general public on Twitter, quoted from CNBC International, Tuesday (10/10/2023).
Before Elon Musk acquired Twitter, the company committed to employing a dedicated team to combat disinformation and misleading content on its platform.
However, when Elon Musk 'came to power' and changed Twitter to X, one of the things he did was cut the special team. Under Musk's leadership, the priority is to minimize content censorship and open a space for free expression for all users.
According to analyst from the Network Contagion Research Institute, Alex Goldenberg, Twitter has long had difficulty fighting disinformation. In fact, before Musk took over.
According to his study, there is a lot of foreign language (non-English) content containing disinformation that often escapes the monitoring of the Twitter management team.
"I often find that disinformation and calls to violence in English are prioritized [for removal], but in Arabic they are often ignored," said Goldenberg.
"Many videos and photos are recycled from old conflicts which are sometimes linked to newer conflicts," he added.
Several propaganda videos made by Hamas were also widely circulated on X. Many social media immediately deleted them, including Twitter. However, many related accounts are still found and are difficult to delete quickly without a special team handling them.
"Elon Musk destroyed what was arguably the best component of Twitter so far, namely the ability to get relatively accurate and reliable data in real-time when a crisis occurs," said Paul Bernal, Professor of IT Law at the University of East Anglia, England.
Konflik Hamas-Israel Makin Panas Gegara Elon Musk
Foto: Israel mulai melancarkan serangan udara ke perbatasan Lebanon hingga menewaskan empat anggota Hizbullah pada Senin (9/10)
waktu setempat. Serangan ini terjadi ketika Israel dan kelompok Hamas Palestina kembali terlibat peperangan di Jalur Gaza sejak akhir pekan lalu. (REUTERS/SALEH SALEM)
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Sejak awal konflik Hamas dan Israel pecah pada akhir pekan lalu, banyak konten terkait peristiwa berdarah tersebut berseliweran di media sosial.
Di X (dulunya Twitter) banyak rekaman video memperlihatkan penculikan dan operasi militer yang dilancarkan kedua kubu. Namun, tak semua konten menunjukkan fakta lapangan yang sebenarnya.
Alhasil, konten-konten palsu alias hoaks tersebut membuat konflik ini makin ruwet karena memicu reaksi kebencian dari khalayak. Salah satunya, menurut CNBC International, ada video yang menunjukkan angkatan udara Israel menyerang Hamas di Gaza. Video tersebut viral di X dan banyak diunggah kembali oleh warganet.
Meski tim X telah melabelinya sebagai 'konten menyesatkan' (misleading), tetapi video-video serupa yang diunggah ulang masih bisa ditemukan di platform milik Elon Musk tersebut, menurut pantauan CNBC International.
Bisa dibilang X kurang 'sat set' dalam mengkaji konten-konten yang bertebaran di platformnya. Alhasil, warganet kesulitan untuk menemukan informasi akurat terkait update konflik Hamas dan Israel di Gaza.
Hal ini menjadi sorotan, utamanya setelah NBC News melaporkan bahwa X memangkas tim yang bertanggung jawab untuk menghapus disinformasi dan menjaga integritas jelang pemilu.
Beberapa saat sebelum Hamas meluncurkan serangan mendadak ke Israel, X juga menghapus headline berita dari tautan (link) yang disematkan pada platform tersebut.
Hal ini membuat link eksternal dari organisasi media yang kredibel kesulitan dalam menyampaikan informasi ke khalayak ramai di Twitter, dikutip dari CNBC International, Selasa (10/10/2023).
Sebelum Elon Musk mengakuisisi Twitter, perusahaan tersebut berkomitmen untuk memperkerjakan tim khusus dalam memerangi disinformasi dan konten menyesatkan dalam platformnya.
Namun, ketika Elon Musk 'berkuasa' dan mengganti Twitter jadi X, salah satu yang ia lakukan adalah memangkas tim khusus tersebut. Di bawah kepemimpinan Musk, prioritasnya adalah meminimalisir penyensoran konten dan membuka ruang bebas berekspresi bagi semua pengguna.
Menurut analis dari Network Contagion Research Institute, Alex Goldenberg, Twitter sebenarnya sudah sejak dulu kesulitan memerangi disinformasi. Bahkan, sebelum diambilalih Musk.
Menurut studinya, banyak konten berbahasa asing (non-Inggris) dengan muatan disinformasi yang kerap luput dari pantauan tim manajemen Twitter.
"Saya sering menemukan disinformasi serta ajakan untuk melakukan kekerasan dalam bahasa Inggris diprioritaskan [untuk dihapus], namun dalam bahasa Arab sering kali diabaikan," kata Goldenberg.
"Banyak video dan foto daur ulang dari konflik lama yang kadang-kadang dikaitkan dengan konflik lebih baru," ia menambahkan.
Beberapa video propaganda buatan Hamas juga banyak beredar di X. Banyak media sosial yang langsung menghapusnya, termasuk Twitter. Namun, akun-akun terkait masih banyak ditemukan dan sulit dihapus dengan cepat tanpa tim khusus yang menanganinya.
"Elon Musk menghancurkan komponen Twitter yang bisa dibilang terbaik selama ini, yaitu kemampuan untuk mendapatkan data yang relatif akurat dan dapat dipercaya secara real-time ketika terjadi krisis," kata Paul Bernal, Profesor Hukum IT di University of East Anglia, Inggris.