A deeper dive into a subject that is impacting culture on a macro level, beyond just the social space.
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
On Saturday October 7, backed by a barrage of rockets, Hamas militants stormed from the blockaded Gaza Strip into nearby Israeli towns, including a music festival several miles away, killing and abducting dozens of civilians, including approximately 11 Americans in an unprecedented surprise attack during a Jewish holiday Saturday, and exactly 50 years to the date of the start of the Yom Kippur War. In response, Israel has since declared war, and has engaged Hamas with returning rocket fire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded with a statement vowing retaliation, telling Gaza residents "Get out of there now,” who have no way to leave the small Mediterranean territory of 2.3 million people. Previous conflicts between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers brought widespread death and destruction in Gaza and days of rocket fire on Israeli towns.
President Biden released a statement on October 9 detailing information he has given for Americans currently abroad in Israel as well as confirming the US government's support of Israel.
Graphic video and photos from the weekend have been circulating social media, as well as calls for finding missing family members who disappeared Saturday. We recommend limiting social posting as much as possible to allow for clear paths of communication for those affected by this conflict. Any content that does go live should be reevaluated for any potential flags.
How platforms are responding:
Meta: No statement available at this time
Twitter: X Safety released an update on 10/8 highlighting how users can limit the content they see, after many graphic videos have surfaced on the platform over the weekend X Safety also posted around community notes, stating that community notes will help improve the quality of information shared on the platform during what the platform deemed 'critical moments'
TikTok: No statement available at this time
Youtube: No statement available at this time
Resources: 1, 2
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