Should Social Media Influencers Be Talking About Palestine?
By Olivia Harris
Before the October re-escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict — which has since claimed thousands of Palestinian lives — Maya Abdallah, a Palestinian-American TikTok creator, made videos about a variety of topics: dating as a young Middle Eastern woman in America; skits about her immigrant family and friends; fashion hauls and hair-care tutorials. But in the last three months, her content has changed dramatically — every video has been about the humanitarian crisis occurring in Palestine.
Abdallah has made numerous videos on the subject — debunking propaganda, sharing stories about the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, posting footage from protests, and providing resources for those who want to take action. But one of her videos has amassed significantly more views than any other; 2.2 million to be exact. In a video posted on November 11th, Abdallah spoke candidly about her disappointment with the silence of other influencers on TikTok, specifically calling out influencer Brittnay Broski, a beloved comedy creator with a whopping 7.4 million followers on TikTok.
Broski quickly posted a response in which she attempted to clarify her inaction, explaining that she has been struggling to understand what kind of role she should assume as an influencer online during such a serious conflict. She is not alone in asking these questions. In the weeks since, a spirited debate has unfolded across TikTok, with thousands of users and influencers alike tuning in to add their thoughts. What responsibility do social media influencers have to discuss social justice issues and current events? What is the “right way” to use a platform? The intense flurry online — of response videos, comments, and arguments — reveals that this question is not easily answered.
Catarina Leon, 19, believes the atrocities occurring in Palestine are too important for people with such influence to remain silent. “What’s happening in Palestine is a genocide and an ethnic cleansing,” said Leon emphatically. “Influencers have a responsibility — perhaps not necessarily to educate their audience — but at least to spread awareness and bring attention to other content creators who are better equipped to educate people on the issue,” she explained. “For all the people saying, ‘What is Brittany Broski gonna do,’ or ‘What does she know?’ — she has a massive audience and a massive following,” continued Leon. “She can reach an insane amount of people — like 10 million across her different platforms. She can encourage them to call their representatives or make donations. That means something.”
When it comes to influencers speaking out online, Leon says she is looking for active support of Palestine — not neutrality or silence. “I think at least online, and within the younger generations, the general consensus is overwhelmingly pro-Palestine,” said Leon. “And I think for a lot of people, it matters that the content creators that they actively engage with and maybe even financially contribute to share the same political beliefs as them on such an important issue. That’s something that really matters to me, and I think a lot of people would agree.”
When asked how she would respond to those who say influencers should stay in their own lane and out of politics, Leon said, “I think that is an underestimation of the power that influencers hold and the people that they can reach.” For better or for worse, Leon explained, there are likely many people who would have not been aware of the Israel-Palestine conflict, or as fully engaged in the matter, had it not been so widely discussed on social media. In an age where people are increasingly reliant on social media for their news rather than traditional media outlets, “access to digestible information is so important,” explained Leon. “And having these humanistic figures like influencers to guide you through the process of getting involved in an issue like Palestine is really helpful for a lot of people.”
Where some see the potential for good, others see the potential for harm. Grace DuFauchard, 55, a casual social media user, believes influencers are likely not educated enough on the complexities of the Israel-Palestine conflict to form a thoughtful opinion worthy of sharing online. “I mean, this is a puzzle that great minds over many, many years have been trying to figure out,” said DuFauchard. “How can a 20-something-year-old influencer possibly say they have all the answers and that their point of view is the right point of view?”
DuFauchard believes that because influencers have followings who are particularly young and impressionable, encouraging a singular point of view on such a complicated subject could be rather harmful. “An uninformed opinion is a dangerous opinion,” proclaimed DuFauchard. “There are not just two sides but many sides to this issue, and without an understanding of the politics and histories behind Israel, Palestine, and Hamas, one could contribute to unproductive rhetoric. How can peace be achieved if people take sides and refuse to hear each other out?” she exclaimed.
DuFauchard prefers to garner information from what she describes as “more reliable sources.” “I use social media for entertainment,” she explained. “Am I ever influenced by influencers — absolutely! But only to buy a particular product or make a certain recipe…I think it’s fair to say that I’m more likely to be influenced by The New York Times on Middle Eastern politics than some influencer on TikTok,” she joked.
Isabella Chambers, 28, expressed similar concerns. “I wouldn’t necessarily trust influencers to talk about a genocide that’s going on,” Chambers explained. However, she understands why people online are pushing to have this conversation. “It’s hard right now to carry on like ‘business as usual,” said Chambers, noting that most of the content she’s been consuming recently has been related to the crisis in Palestine. The difference for her is where she’s finding this content. “I honestly don’t follow many influencers, so I don’t expect them to speak out on certain topics,” Chambers said, explaining that she “prefers to use social media to follow grassroots activists and organizers.”
But if influencers were to take action moving forward, Chambers explained that she would want the focus to be on responsible information dissemination.“If influencers were to share information about Palestine, they should just be really responsible about what they share on their platforms in such an era of rampant misinformation,” concluded Chambers.
Lily Blaustein, 23, a self-proclaimed social media lover, was quick to reiterate the complexity of this debate. “It’s a really interesting question,” said Blaustein with a solemn laugh, noting that this is something she and her peers have discussed at length. “I don’t think people who aren’t properly educated on a topic should be speaking out on a public platform to their millions of followers about that topic,” said Blaustein, also noting misinformation among her chief concerns. For this reason, she explained, “I don’t think I would say that all TikTok creators have a moral responsibility to talk about Palestine.”
She also noted another concern. “Sometimes I feel like TikTok or Instagram just aren’t serious enough platforms to discuss such an emotionally charged and serious issue, especially when videos of really horrific footage are just randomly mixed in with like, people’s vacation photos or luxury shopping hauls and whatnot,” said Blaustein. “It can feel really disjointed, like it’s just not the right place for that kind of content.”
But like many others engaged in this debate across social media, Blaustein admits that her thoughts on this question are not set in stone. “My opinions are changing all the time,” said Blaustein. “I do think that silence can be complicity, but at the same time, just because you’re silent on social media doesn’t mean you’re silent in real life,” Blaustein said. “So yeah, I guess I don’t really have a definitive answer,” concluded Blaustein, “but it’s definitely something that I will continue to think about a lot.”
