When the Internet Goes Dark, the Truth Goes With It

Plestia Alaqad is known to millions of people as an image on a screen: a young Palestinian journalist in a press vest and helmet, standing amidst the destruction of Gaza, speaking to the camera in between airstrikes. She is one of many.

The burden of witnessing and reporting events in Gaza has been almost exclusively carried by Palestinian journalists, as Israel has barred international journalists from entering the territory and reporting on the war since October 2023. In limited cases, journalists have been allowed to enter under controlled conditions, escorted by the Israeli army.

Reporters like Alaqad began reaching millions of people through social media, which has been widely credited with turning the tide of opinion outside of the Middle East. “I believe everyone now knows how powerful social media is, and we’ve seen that firsthand in the genocide that is happening in Gaza, in Palestine,” Alaqad says. “It ...