Witnessing atrocities in Gaza on social media

Social media's addition as a new paradigm to news dissemination and consumption is not a recent development. Yet, with the ongoing Israeli attack and occupation of Gaza, it is playing a more prominent role than usual, given the deep differences that exist between how news from the region is being packaged by media outlets in the West and the rest of the world.

For people from Bangladesh, a country that shares deep ties with Palestine and their people's cause, these differences matter, and it factors into how they choose to consume their news.

Irina Jahan, a student at a private university in Dhaka, told us about her major sources of news for the conflict. "Al Jazeera on TV or from the social media pages of Vox, Middle East Eye and some Palestinian journalists located in Gaza," she said.

Nahaly Nafisa Khan, a Bangladeshi graduate student studying in the US, said, "I've been following Al Jazeera along with the Instagram accounts of on-field Palestinian journalists."

It is clear that social media features heavily in the choice of how a lot of young people are choosing to stay updated, and even when they do follow mainstream news outlets, they are doing so via social media channels more often than through traditional mediums, be that TV or print news.

News consumers feel, however, that mainstream news leaves a lot to be desired when the need of the hour is to stay updated with facts, and to make sure that it's not clouded by external factors.

"When it comes to Western media, things couldn't be any worse. The way Palestinian voices have been dehumanised and have stayed unrecognised for most parts while they solely focus on Israeli hostages and Hamas's actions without providing sufficient context is infuriating. No news of Palestinian children dying, the shortage of food, water, the continuous bombing, or of Israeli Defense Forces torturing Palestinian citizens as collective punishment for Hamas's actions can be seen," said Nahaly, speaking on why she is put off by mainstream Western news outlets when it comes to news about the ongoing conflict.

Even local media, with a heavy lean that is in alignment with how most individuals in Bangladesh feel about Israel's attack on Gaza, isn't free of Western characterisations of the conflict that many Bangladeshis don't want to entertain.

"A lot of the coverage in local news media, especially newspapers as those are the ones I've noticed, use borrowed terminology without proper critical engagement when they are talking about the conflict. For example, some headlines referred to the war as the 'Israel-Hamas War', which does not entirely encapsulate what the whole thing is about," said Amreeta Lethe Chowdhury, a student at a private university in Dhaka.

According to many, this characterisation is misleading because Israel's military action in Gaza has from the very outset been killing many more civilians than Hamas soldiers, and therefore it is not just an attack on Hamas, but an attack on Gaza.

But does turning to social media for news on the conflict solve all these problems? Or have the same tendrils that control mainstream media in the West wrapped themselves around the algorithms that control the flow of information on social media websites too?

Roshni Islam, a senior research assistant at mPower, told us about her perception of bias in social media. "I don't think social media is totally free of the bias that can be seen in mainstream media, as there is an algorithm and people exploit that algorithm to push narratives. But no social media website can be seen as one entity that can be swayed towards one direction. It is made up of people from all over the world from a lot of different backgrounds, and they have a lot of different biases."

Irina said, "I don't think bias is something that can be fully avoided. It's a personal belief that bias will seep in even if unintentionally. But in social media posts, in particular the ones from victims in Gaza, you can actually 'see' the news as it is and in my opinion, that's a more reliable form of getting a picture of what's going on."

The mechanisms behind how social media websites work pose a challenge as well. The information feedback loop is integral behind the success of social media websites, which hinges on the ability to keep users coming back by offering them more of the content that they are likely to engage with.

Speaking on her own personal bias, Amreeta said, "I'm acutely aware of my personal bias, in fact, I've gone to great lengths to curate my feed to align with my beliefs. But opposing beliefs manage to come through, regardless of what side of the internet you're on. I have come across propaganda content put out by the Israeli government, and even content made by Israeli citizens, and even those are egregious and malicious. I have filled up my feed with sources that I think are more reliable, and that definitely shapes how I perceive the war. But looking at footage from the other side of the divide hasn't changed any of my perceptions either."

This level of personal curation and exposure to the horrific events in Gaza leaves a toll on an individual. While this may seem unimportant in the context of the suffering that is being inflicted on innocent Gazans, it is worth noting to put into perspective the scale of the destruction.

"I think my mental health is being affected by this, and I sometimes feel like I don't want to get on social media and look at more suffering. But I still do it, to stay informed. And it feels absurd to look at these images in the safety of my room, while there are dead bodies of children under the rubble in Gaza," said Roshni.

"Whether or not my mental health is being affected is irrelevant to me. Of course it's being affected, what's happening in Gaza is horrific. On one side is unthinkable violence, and on the other side, there is celebration of it. Seeing this kind of depravity is undoubtedly going to harm a person, but that conversation goes nowhere. There is the inclination to consume less of this news, but it's very important to stay informed of what's going on around the world. I think it's important to reject this individualistic framing of mental health," said Amreeta.

There is also the risk of using the pretext of protecting users' mental health to suppress Palestinian voices on social media.

"People need to know what's happening. Censoring Palestinian voices in the name of censoring violence is another area that puts me in a spot when I think about this. Mainstream Western media won't represent the oppressed side, so they have to resort to social media, which is not free of obstacles as well. Could censorship on violence be another trick that they use to silence Palestinian voices?" asked Nahaly.

The war in Gaza has killed thousands of innocent people at this point, and a temporary truce has finally been reached. As the world begins to come to terms with this tragedy, it is important to not become desensitised to it. Social media has played an important part in getting the truth out, but what action is taken based on this truth to prevent this from happening again in the future remains to be seen.