Social media in Israel and the Gaza war
At least half of Israeli adults say certain kinds of social media posts related to the war should not be allowed, such as content that is graphic, incites violence or expresses support for Hamas, according to a new survey by US-based Pew Research Centre. Most Israeli adults do not post or share about political and social issues online – including the war between Israel and Hamas. The survey was made in March/April.
74% of Israelis use social media. 22% say they post or share about political and social issues often or sometimes. 51% say they rarely or never do. Just 18% of Israeli adults say they post or share about political and social issues with any regularity.
“While Israelis’ overall social media use has not changed much since 2022, the percentage who say they post or share about social or political issues at least sometimes has decreased from 36% to 22% in that time”, the Pew says.
“Arab Israelis are more likely than Jewish Israelis to say they post or share about political or social issues at least sometimes (28% vs. 20%). However, Jews are about twice as likely as Arabs to do so about the Israel-Hamas war specifically (20% vs. 11%). About a quarter of Arab Israelis (24%, a plurality among those asked) say they never post or share content about the war. Only 6% of Jewish Israelis say the same.”
The Pew notes, referring to rights groups based in Israel, that since October, Israeli authorities have detained dozens of Arab citizens over their social media posts related to the war.
“Many others have faced disciplinary measures at work or school for things they shared online, according to rights groups based in Israel.”
Whether they post on social media themselves or not, pluralities of Israelis believe that posting certain kinds of content related to the Israel-Hamas war should not be allowed.
- About nine-in-ten Israelis say posts that call for violence (92%) or express support for Hamas (87%) have no place on social media.
- 72% of Israelis want posts that include videos or images of violence in the war to be censored. Only 20% say graphic content should be allowed.
- The share of Israelis who say posts that express sympathy for civilians in Gaza should be kept off social media (59%) is about double the share who say these posts are acceptable (30%).
- Israelis are most divided on posts that criticize their government’s actions in the war. Half say those posts should be censored, while 41% disagree. Supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government are much more likely than non-supporters to say posts criticizing the government should not be allowed (69% vs. 39%).
“Jews and Arabs in Israel have different views of social media posts about the war. This is especially true of posts that show sympathy for civilians in Gaza: While 70% of Jews say these posts should not be allowed, just 18% of Arabs agree”, according to the survey.
“Similarly, 55% of Israeli Jews say posts that criticize the government’s handling of the war should be censored, compared with only 31% of Israeli Arabs. A 58% majority of Arabs say posts that are critical of Israel’s government are acceptable.”
Majorities of Jews and Arabs support censoring posts that show graphic violence (76% and 57%) or express support for Hamas (91% and 70%). When asked about the latter, 20% of Arabs either said they did not know or declined to respond.
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