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Misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war is flooding social media, making it hard to distinguish fact from fiction. Some of the early reporting about an explosion at a hospital in the Gaza Strip, for example, included unverified claims about responsibility. Newsrooms are having a difficult time trying to sift through all the information.

In general, during times of conflict, false information can be put out by different actors such as government or military officials, separatist groups or private citizens. However, consumers bear some ethical responsibility for what they consume.

University of Dayton’s Paul Morrow, who studies the ethics of viewing photos and videos of atrocities, writes about techniques that people can use to influence the images they receive.

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Kalpana Jain

Senior Religion + Ethics Editor/ Director of the Global Religion Journalism Initiative

Social media is often used during times of conflict to spread fake news. Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images

How to deal with visual misinformation circulating in the Israel-Hamas war and other conflicts

Paul Morrow, University of Dayton

A human rights scholar explains how social media users can take charge of what content comes into their feed and reduce the risk of receiving misinformation.

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