Amidst the conflict, a surge of false information, incitement, and disturbing content has been inundating social media, posing a threat to public well-being. To address this, ISOC-IL has expanded its online safety education efforts to counter the unprecedented threat to internet users in Israel and around the globe. Within days we mobilized various relief and safety initiatives to support and protect civilians and communities in this emergency situation. As always, our eye is also on the needs of cultural minorities in Israel, and our long-time partners and colleagues at the ISOC-IL Arab Internet Experts Forum are working to address online issues and challenges that have arisen among the Arab population in Israel.
Our Internet Safety Hotline, already a significant source of support for individuals and communities reporting instances of online abuse in both Hebrew and Arabic, immediately partnered with Israeli disinformation watchdogs, forming a collective emergency response team to gather reports of offensive and false content. Dozens of reports are submitted daily by the general public, government departments, news media and others. Together, we analyze the reports, verify their authenticity, publicly release the results, and update the online platforms and their Safety and Integrity teams about harmful content or accounts which violate the platforms’ own safety and integrity rules.
In the days following the attack we launched a public awareness and literacy campaign promoting safe and responsible internet use, and published User Guidelines for Careful Social Media Use in the current emergency (in Hebrew and Arabic). In particular, we formulated and published Tips for the Safer use of Telegram (in Hebrew and Arabic), an already problematic app that has become even more popular and harmful following recent events. These guides were picked up by major news channels in Israel and abroad, and were widely embraced by online communities and educators, demonstrating how sorely it was needed.
In our immediate efforts to support and empower local communities, we also organized educational lectures for senior citizens and the general public, with educators, and mental health professionals, focusing on responsible consumption and propagation of content found on social media platforms. We are currently working with an educational psychologist to release a special parents’ guide on the exposure of children and teenagers to harmful material on social media.
We wish to express our condolences to those who have suffered grief as a result of the war brought upon us by terrorists from Gaza, especially those whose friends or relatives were killed, wounded or abducted. We sincerely thank our friends from the international internet community – the Internet Society (ISOC) and the Council of European National Top-Level Domain Registries (CENTR) among others – for the support we received in the wake of the terror and atrocities perpetrated by Hamas. We continue to pray for peace and tranquility.