Blinken blames TikTok and social media for disrupting Israel’s narrative of war in Gaza

Social media sites like TikTok are partly to blame for widespread criticism of Israel’s war effort against Hamas in Gaza, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The comments came as part of a conversation at the McCain Institute’s 2024 Sedona Forum in Sedona, Arizona, between Secretary Blinken and US senator Mitt Romney.

The Utah Republican asked the top diplomat why “the PR has been so awful” against Israel since the beginning of the 7 October conflict.

“Why has Hamas disappeared in terms of public perception?” he continued. “An offer is on the table for a ceasefire and yet the world is screaming about Israel.”

Mr Blinken said that part of the reason for that dynamic was a changing media environment, where people no longer all read from the same authoritative news sources and instead learn about current events on chaotic social media feeds.

“Now of course we’re on an intravenous feed of information with new impulses, inputs every millisecond,” Mr Blinken said. “And of course the way this has played out on social media has dominated the narrative. You have a social media ecosystem, environment in which context, history, facts get lost and the emotion, the impact of images dominate. We can’t discount that, but I think it also has a very very challenging effect on the narrative.”

Mr Romney appeared to agree, saying the effect Mr Blinken was describing was why “there was such overwhelming support for us to potentially shut down TikTok.”

The US secretary, at another point in the conversation, also emphasised the “inescapable reality” that Palestinian civilians “continue to suffer grievously.”

“We have to be focused on that and attentive to that.”

The comments echoed a wider narrative that’s been put forth about