Israel and Netanyahu Linked to Flydubai Incident in Online Conspiracy Theories
Translated & summarized from Cursorinfo by baba
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Conspiracy theories blamed Israel for a Flydubai flight incident within 67 minutes of a distress call.
- Thousands of posts on X linked Israel, Netanyahu, and Mossad to the event.
- A prominent antisemitic user, Jackson Hinkle, amplified these theories.
- The rapid spread suggests a pre-planned narrative, not a spontaneous reaction.
- Combat Antisemitism Movement urged platforms to stop the spread of antisemitism.
Following a distress signal from a Flydubai flight, conspiracy theories quickly emerged on social media platform X, accusing Israel of involvement. A report by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) tracked 2,963 posts within a 9-hour period that implicated Israel, its intelligence agency Mossad, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Zionists, or Jews in the incident.
The first such post appeared on X just 67 minutes after the initial distress call, before the situation on the plane was fully understood. This early post suggested a "false flag" operation or the "Hannibal Directive," an Israeli military protocol aimed at preventing the capture of soldiers. Within three minutes, another post appeared, stating, "Watching another false flag. Keep an eye on Flydubai." The CAM report noted that these theories spread rapidly even before an official investigation began or confirmed details were released.
Among the accounts spreading these theories was Jackson Hinkle, described by CAM as a prominent antisemitic user on X. Hinkle linked the incident to Israeli elections, Netanyahu's visit to the UAE, and a prior security warning from the Prime Minister. He also falsely claimed that Israeli special forces were on board to neutralize an attacker, a post that reportedly garnered over 2 million views.
The spread of these conspiracy theories accelerated significantly. By 10:07 AM, 100 such posts were identified, reaching 500 by 12:42 PM and approximately 1,000 by 2:35 PM. The peak occurred between 4:00 PM and 5:00 PM, with 623 posts in that hour, averaging about 10 per minute. In total, 3,126 posts containing the phrase "false flag" were collected, with about 72% linking the incident to Israel or Jews, a figure that rose to 82% in the final hour of monitoring.
Sacha Roytman, CEO of CAM, stated that the rapid dissemination of these accusations suggests a pre-planned scenario rather than a spontaneous reaction. He emphasized that it took only 67 minutes to transform a serious hijacking attempt into an antisemitic conspiracy theory blaming Israel and Jews. Roytman called for social media platforms to take responsibility and halt the spread of such content, characterizing antisemitism as an "automatic mechanism" for explaining global emergencies.
Read the original at CursorinfoMentioned
