Anadolu / Contributor
Representatives from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) admitted to running a notoriously violent and racist Telegram channel following an investigation from Haaretz. On October 9, 2023, the Telegram channel “72 Virgins—Uncensored” started posting gore-filled photos and videos from the frontlines of Israel’s war on Gaza. An investigation from Haaretz revealed in December that the Israeli military ran the channel. The IDF initially denied the accusation but reversed course after an internal investigation, Haaretz reported on Sunday. It’s an unsurprising revelation that highlights the grotesque appeal of Telegram, and how governments increasingly use the platform to spread propaganda.Videos and images on the channel included the dead bodies of Palestinian civilians and resistance fighters alongside racist text. “Exterminating the roaches…exterminating the Hamas rats…Share this beauty,” one post said above pictures of captured Palestinians. Another post showed an Israeli soldier dipping their gun into a liquid. “What a man!!!! Lubricates bullets with lard. You won’t get your virgins,” the text on the video said, according to a translation from Haaretz. In the past months, several unconfirmed videos have gone viral on social media purporting to show soldiers mocking Palestinians by dipping their bullets in pig fat, which is forbidden under Islam. Since October 7th, Nearly 30,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military in Gaza, where Israeli occupation forces have blocked almost all humanitarian aid from entering the densely-populated Palestinian territory.A December 12, 2023 investigation by Haaretz revealed that the gore channel was run by the Israeli military. The IDF originally denied it was behind the grotesque videos, but on February 4, Haaretz published a follow-up article in which a spokesperson for the occupation forces said it figured out it was, in fact, behind the channel’s posts.According to Haaertz, IDF Maj. Gen. Oded Basyuk conducted an internal probe. Apparently, people in his chain of command lied to him about the channel and its connection to Israel’s Influencing Department. “In the wake of these findings, the unit's wartime commander is to end his military service,” Haaretz reported. The IDF also claimed the page had been started without authorization or authority from leadership, according to Haaretz. Telegram is full of channels like “72 Virgins—Uncensored,” pages that promise to show the user uncensored footage from a world in conflict. The platform is full of channels that show gore-filled videos from the wars in Ukraine, Palestine, and across the Middle East.Telegram is uncensored and unruly. The messy and disconnected nature of the platform is part of its appeal, as is the no-rules attitude towards moderation. The popularity of the app, especially outside of America, has made it a place where governments often talk directly to people and spread propaganda. The Kremlin operates Telegram channels, and so does Kyiv. It’s also a space where political leaders can speak directly to a massive audience without fear of being cut off by moderators. Yevgeny Prigozhin, deceased leader of the Russian Neo-Nazi military company Wagner Group, used Telegram to build an audience and challenge Moscow.The lack of moderation on the platform makes it valuable, but it also means places like “72 Virgins—Uncensored” will proliferate. It’s trivially easy to find channels displaying the grim horrors of war on Telegram, but you can never be sure of the agenda of those showing them to you. It’s a sewer, but it’s a valuable sewer. Mainstream coverage of conflict sanitizes its rough edges. Bodies are blurred. The human cost of a bombing campaign is too easy to abstract. On Telegram, the opposite is true. The toll of conflict is available to anyone with the stomach will to look. But you have to constantly ask yourself who is showing you the horror, and why.Telegram did not immediately respond to Motherboard’s request for comment.
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