A dramatic incident unfolded on a Tel Aviv-bound flydubai jet last week, leaving many stunned. A young girl witnessed a bloody scene in the cockpit: the co-pilot attacking the pilot with an axe. She alerted others, and a group of unarmed passengers, recently vacationing in Thailand, rushed to help, successfully grabbing the control wheel as the plane plunged 17,000 feet. They also saved the life of the bloodied pilot, Yaniv Hayun, one of the men who helped incapacitate the attacker, was identified.
Despite non-stop media interviews with the hero pilot and ordinary passengers who took control of the plane, conspiracy theories about the attempted hijacking persist. Some mockingly insist the event never happened, while others claim it was a false flag operation. Many comments invoke deep-rooted antisemitic tropes, accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of staging the incident for political survival or to divert attention from the war in Gaza. Others believe it was an attempt by Israel to play the victim or garner global sympathy.
The Combat Antisemitism Movement's (CAM) Antisemitism Research Center monitored online responses as the attempted hijacking unfolded, finding that the first conspiracy theories were posted just 67 minutes after the plane sent its first distress signal. Within five hours, the ARC documented 1,000 hostile posts, and after 12 hours, 2,963 posts. These posts generated at least 30,000 likes and more than three million views. Sacha Roytman, CAM's chief executive, attributes the rapid spread of misinformation to social media platforms' open free-speech policies and the use of bot networks by agitators.
According to Roytman, the speed at which the first post appeared, 67 minutes after the incident, indicates that it wasn't a human posting but rather a coordinated effort. He believes that agitators, possibly from Russia or Qatar, have learned to build effective bot networks to spread misinformation. Amit Cohen, a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), notes that during such events, there is often a gap between what the public wants to know and the amount of verified information available, creating an environment in which rumors and conspiracy theories can develop quickly.
Cohen emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between those who deliberately create disinformation and those who spread it. She notes that people may share misleading content without knowing its origin or being part of a coordinated campaign. Gal Yavetz, a senior lecturer of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Bar-Ilan University, believes that the incredible nature of the flydubai story left many people searching for answers, with some accepting natural explanations and others blaming Jews.
Yavetz points out that similar conspiracy theories arose when thousands of Moroccan nationals flooded Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta in July. He notes that every time there is something unexplained, people blame the usual suspects, including Jews. Bassem Youssef, an Egyptian-born political satirist, has mocked the flydubai event in a series of videos, raising suspicions about what really happened. In one clip viewed 64,000 times, Youssef terms it a "Hollywood movie," drawing on familiar antisemitic conspiracy tropes.
The spread of misinformation and disinformation online is a significant concern, with social media platforms playing a role in facilitating this discourse. Yavetz notes that it's not just a negligible number of people spreading misinformation but rather regular individuals taking their outrageous opinions to social media. The incident highlights the need for verified information and responsible online behavior.
Key points
- The attempted hijacking of a flydubai flight has sparked widespread conspiracy theories, with many questioning the veracity of the event.
- Social media platforms' open free-speech policies and the use of bot networks by agitators have contributed to the rapid spread of misinformation.
- The incident highlights the need for verified information and responsible online behavior.
