Social media has been ‘weaponised’ in conflicts, says Ni-linked expert

AN American Youtuber and military expert, whose family is from Lisburn, has said social media has become a “weapons system” for spreading disinformation in the conflicts in the Middle East.

On Saturday evening, Iran launched more than 300 missile drones towards Israel, according to the Israeli military. However, almost all were intercepted.

In the midst of the statement from Iran confirming it had launched an attack against Israel in an apparent retaliation to the latter’s strike on an Iranian consulate in Syria, videos on social media circulated showing apparent drone strikes and explosions.

Some accounts claimed they showed Iran’s attack on Israel.

However, almost all the videos were identified as fake and a bid at ‘disinformation’ — the term used to describe false information which is deliberately intended to mislead.

Ryan Mcbeth (48), who is based in Maryland, Washington DC, runs RyanMcBethProgramming, a Youtube video channel which now specialises in military information. His account grew massively in popularity in 2022 with viewers wanting to learn more about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from someone with a military background.

In a video last year, he caught viewers by surprise by referencing his family connection to Lisburn, Co Antrim.

Speaking from his Maryland home, Mr Mcbeth said: “People used to get their validation from their parents or from their workplace — but now it’s from social media. It’s a powerful motivator.

“I think that as people we have an obligation not to spread fake news and disinformation, and I think that the biggest indicator is that if something makes you feel emotional then maybe you shouldn’t share it.”

The ongoing Gaza conflict has been the subject of various forms of disinformation, including fake email campaigns and doctored or fake footage shared on social media, from both sides.

“It would honestly be trivial for social media companies to implement control measures when somebody posts something online that is not necessarily fake or old,” said Mcbeth, who has nearly a million subscribers on Youtube.

“Artificial intelligence could identify it. AI could go ‘wait, I’ve seen this media before in 2015’, and could flag the content.

“The current method on things like community notes on Twitter, takes too long. People have already spread disinformation long before it’s corrected.

“I do think it’s up to social media companies to say this content is misleading.”

When asked about who he believes is behind the spread of disinformation around Iran’s attack on Israel, Mcbeth said it can be linked to various countries. “China, Russia, Iran and criminal gangs who do this on a criminal basis, there are also companies in India who will literally do anything you want online,” he said.

“The main goal is to reduce faith in your government, to show they are incompetent or can’t prevent things.

“If we look at what’s happening in Israel, we have young people who hate Israel who can’t find it on a map. It’s manufactured — the more chaos you have, the more stabilising you can be. It’s a weapons system.”

‘AI could go ‘wait, I have seen this media before in 2015’’