7/12/2023–|Last updated: 12/7/202301:46 PM (Mecca time)
An analysis conducted by the American newspaper Politico reported that pro-Israel organizations spent 100 times more than what pro-Palestinian groups spent on Meta’s communication platforms (Facebook and Instagram) last month.
The newspaper said that the joint spending on Facebook and Instagram exceeds two million dollars, and that this spending – despite the lack of coordination regarding it – shows how pro-Israel groups are trying to shape public opinion among Americans, especially the younger generations who are increasingly skeptical of Israel.
Politico analyzed an electronic database that tracks groups that buy paid messages on Facebook and Instagram during specific time periods.
The newspaper reviewed the advertisements that were displayed between the second of last November and the current December, based on the affiliations of advocacy groups, whether for the issues of Israel or Palestine.
The newspaper’s analysis showed that for Meta platforms – the largest social media sites in the world – the groups that buy ads in support of Israel include well-known names, such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism, a group founded by billionaire Robert Kraft.
The newspaper found that their combined spending of $2.2 million exceeded almost any other entity during that period, unlike the conservative news outlet The Daily Wire and its Meta accounts, which spent about $3 million.
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By comparison, the newspaper found that groups supporting Palestinians, Muslims and Arabs spent less than $20,000 in the same period on Meta ads.
The American-Arab Anti-Defamation Committee (ADC) was the largest spender on advertising for advocacy groups allied with the Palestinians, the newspaper reported.
The newspaper said that the group spent about $10,000 on Meta platforms between the second of last November and the first of December, although almost all of its paid messages did not specifically mention the conflict in the Middle East.
The newspaper quoted Abed Ayoub, national executive director of EDC, as saying, “The purpose of our advertisements is to let people know that we are here to protect them.”
When asked why spending on pro-Palestinian ads lags behind those defending Israel, Ayoub said, “It takes a lot of money to change people’s minds about the lie.”
The newspaper hinted that despite all the advertisements, there is some influence that cannot be bought with money, especially with young people, and stated that last November, the “Tik Tok” platform responded to criticism from Republican Representative from Wisconsin Mike Gallagher, who claimed without evidence. The platform may have conducted a “malign influence operation” that manipulated American youth through “rampant pro-Hamas propaganda.”
Tik Tok replied
The Beijing-based company, owned by ByteDance, responded in a blog post that pro-Palestinian hashtags were more popular than pro-Israel hashtags on social media.
She pointed to Instagram, where the hashtag “Stand with Israel” received about 264,000 posts, compared to more than 7 million posts for “Free Palestine.”
“Attitudes among young people were leaning toward Palestine long before TikTok existed,” TikTok said.
Facebook and other applications affiliated with Meta are accused of restricting content supporting Palestine.
Last November, activists around the world launched the “We Will Not Be Silenced” campaign to protest the ban on content supporting Palestine and the narrowing of its reach across social media platforms, especially on Facebook and Instagram.
The American website The Intercept said last October that social media users had complained that the Instagram and TikTok applications had restricted or banned posts and accounts due to their pro-Palestinian content in the wake of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.