Tons of disinformation is flying. I never expected to be putting my rough Arabic to use like this, but there are many old videos and videos of Iranian atrocity being spread by folks who can't even tell when something is in Persian instead. Plus we have multiple speakers for #Hamas spreading different claims in interviews, all credulously redistributed in ways that serve their ends.
Disseminate carefully.
Everything that needs doing can be done without poorly sourced & sensational data.
@MLClark Media need to follow the scientific method, starting with peer review.
@MLClark definitely! I refuse to repost anything for now. All I know is that it’s the regular people and the children (Palestinian and Israeli) who will suffer, while the leaders act with impunity.
It's a difficult topic, because many people don't understand that truth is the first casualty of war *and often has to be*. Ukraine and Russia, for instance, both lie to keep morale up / evade detection, & they're not above exaggerating enemy atrocities if that will help rally global support.
It's risky, because if a lie about atrocity is found out it can reduce support long-term. But often that doesn't matter. If the lie gets you through a brutal action, it's done its military job.
That's why, far from expecting any military source to be honest - that often goes *expressly* against its main mission, to win - we have to be so freaking responsible with our media coverage and signal-boosting. *We* are tools in the war machine, too - but unwittingly, at times, because we don't realize just how much power these media channels have to shape the overall course of combat.
Thanks for doing your part, Gambit! Care and attention to detail matter greatly at these times.
Follow-up point, very important:
All armies mislead in war (it's part of combat) & media will run with it.
Yesterday a single reporter said she was told something by IDF, in a press tour where only foreign journalists were allowed. IDF didn't confirm the account. Other reporters didn't, either.
But media acted like her secondhand uncorroborated account was true. In a flash it spread, fortifying fury.
This is the fog of war, and it diminishes trust in the long run.
Pay attention to sourcing.