The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on X (formerly Twitter) and other social media companies to shut down a secret campaign by the far-right Israeli government to pressure Congress to continue the flow of taxpayer funds for its genocide in Gaza.
According to The New York Times:
“The campaign began in October and remains active on the platform X. At its peak, it used hundreds of fake accounts that posed as real Americans on X, Facebook and Instagram to post pro-Israel comments. The accounts focused on U.S. lawmakers, particularly ones who are Black and Democrats, such as Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader from New York, and Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, with posts urging them to continue funding Israel’s military.
“ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, was used to generate many of the posts. The campaign also created three fake English-language news sites featuring pro-Israel articles.”
SEE: Israel Secretly Targets U.S. Lawmakers With Influence Campaign on Gaza War – New York Times
SEE ALSO: Israel Secretly Targeted American Lawmakers With Gaza War Influence Campaign – Haaretz
In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“The fact that the Israeli government had to spend millions of dollars creating fake Americans on social media to manipulate members of Congress is another sign that the genocide in Gaza lacks organic public support. Members of Congress should listen to the majority of Americans who oppose both the genocide and the blank check that our nation has given to maintain Israel’s occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people for decades.
“We call on X and other social media companies to shut down this Israeli influence operation, and we call on members of Congress to condemn this dangerous and dishonest attempt to manipulate the American political process with the same fervor they used to condemn Russia for using similar tactics online.
“The Biden administration should end its complicity in the Israeli government’s genocide and instead protect the American public and lawmakers from illegal Israeli interference in our nation’s political process.”
Yesterday, CAIR called for international action after a report by Oxfam found that “85 percent of children did not eat for a whole day at least once in the three days before the survey was conducted” and that thousands of displaced people are being forced to use one toilet.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
Become a Fan of CAIR on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational
Subscribe to CAIR’s Email List
Subscribe to CAIR’s Twitter Feed
http://twitter.com/cairnational
Subscribe to CAIR’s YouTube Channel
Follow CAIR on Instagram
Donate to CAIR
Do you like reading CAIR press releases and taking part in our action alerts? You can help contribute to CAIR’s work of defending civil rights and empowering American Muslims across the country by making a one-time contribution or becoming a monthly donor. Supporters like you make CAIR’s advocacy work possible and defeating Islamophobia an achievable goal. Click here to donate to CAIR.
You are receiving this email due to your interest selection from commercial media databases. If you would like to join CAIR’s media list, please sign up here: https://action.cair.com/a/newsletters — For more information, email: info@cair.com, CC ihooper@cair.com
END
CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com, CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com