A fake White House press statement claiming the Biden administration had authorized $8 billion in emergency assistance for Israel widely circulated online. The faux piece even topped Google search results despite its fallacy.
According to NBC News, the false material tricked several internet outlets into posting whole stories based on the false information. The content is still displayed prominently in internet search results, making the fake White House news release the biggest instance of disinformation in the current war between Hamas and Israel.
The fake press release document looks to be a modified version of US President Joe Biden's July memo announcing $400 million in Ukrainian assistance. Despite social media photographs, the fake White House news release was never published on the White House website or in the Federal Register of Presidential documents.
A fake document is being widely shared online claiming to show the authorisation of $8bn in military aid to Israel by President Biden.
— Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) October 8, 2023
It's a doctored version of a 25 July document detailing $400m in aid to Ukraine authorised by President Biden; fact-checked by @Info_Rosalie. pic.twitter.com/jYZDDrlRwF
Elon Musk to X Users: 'Stay Close to The Truth'
On Saturday morning, the fake press release started to circulate on social media platforms. Around noon, verified accounts on X (formerly Twitter) started posting it, which gave it a boost. The X platform allows for the monetization of verified accounts.
Many posts on the fake White House news release and its claims have garnered hundreds of thousands of views on the network. Most of these X postings lack "community notes" recognizing the document's forgery.
Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly Twitter), urged users on Sunday to emphasize facts in reaction to the spread of misleading information about the Israel-Hamas conflict, per The Independent.
"As always, please try to stay as close to the truth as possible, even for things you don't like," Elon Musk advised users of X in his tweet. "This platform aims to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio of the human collective."
Notably, Twitter has reduced its content moderation efforts to counter disinformation on the network since it was owned by Elon Musk.
The fake White House news release also circulated on TikTok and, to a lesser extent, other social media sites as it gained traction on X. Requests for comments about the circumstances have not received an instant response from X.
Google and other search engines have made it simple to find fake news that appeared to have been published after the distribution of the fake White House press release.
US Troops Moving Toward Israel
In response to the Hamas attack on Israel, US President Joe Biden declared more military support for its ally at the time this article was published.
The White House said President Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the "unprecedented and appalling assault." Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the US verifying claims that US citizens are among the victims and hostages in the attack on Israel, the BBC reported.
Israel has reported 600 killed and 100 captured after the strike, whereas Palestinian sources report 313 deaths in Gaza from Israeli rockets in retribution.
The White House said Israel will get further military aid in the coming days to prevent its rivals from influencing the situation.
Hamas claimed credit for the attack, which included paragliding militants, drones, missiles, and a breach of Israeli border fortifications around Gaza.
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