At least initially, food creator Jeremy Jacobowitz, who has over 485,000 Instagram followers, refrained from sharing posts regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict.
However, over the past month, a deluge of hostile messages from individuals desiring that Jacobowitz address the war have been sent to him.
In an interview, he said, “Especially because I’m outspoken, but I choose my battles wisely, I don’t say things just to say things.” “It took me a couple of days to post something, and when I did, I received a ton of nasty direct messages accusing me of being silent.”
As the war between Israel and Hamas approaches its second month, online influencers and creators claim that the conflict has become inevitable and that posting about it is both required of them by their audiences and by their own morals and interests.
And there are consequences when they do. Four well-known social media users discussed their experiences posting during the conflict and the negative responses they received with NBC News. A few others claimed to have lost money and supporters.
Eventually, Jacobowitz wrote a post on TikTok about the war and claimed that antisemitism was on the rise there. However, he doesn’t think posting is especially beneficial.
Jacobowitz stated, “I would rather not post when horrific things are happening in the news so reliable things can be posted.” “If I filled stories with every thought I had, people wouldn’t be able to find real news.”
Over 1.5 million people have been forced from Gaza as a result of Israel’s continuous military actions in retaliation for Hamas’ terrorist attack on October 7, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. According to Gaza’s health officials, over 11,000 people have died. More than 200 people are still being held captive in Hamas’ surprise attack, according to Israel, which claimed more than 1,200 lives.
Although the Israeli military has opposed calls for a cease-fire, on Thursday it consented to four-hour intervals every day to permit the delivery of humanitarian aid.
On social media, posts concerning the conflict continue to garner a lot of attention, despite the fact that popular subjects tend to fade after a few days or weeks. Uploads and views of content with the popular hashtags “#israel” and “#palestine” have been consistent over the last 30 days, according to TikTok’s creative center, which provides statistics on what’s trending on the platform.
Influencers can profit financially from interest, but this isn’t always the case in the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Comedian Abby Govindan, who has 178,000 followers on the social media platform X, claimed that since expressing her support for the Palestinian cause on social media, she has lost sponsorships. She claimed that her management informed her that sponsors would not collaborate with individuals who made any public comments regarding the Middle East.
Govindan, who has long supported the Palestinian cause, also stated that she has never seen an increase in online support for Palestinians.
Govindan stated in an interview that “to me, being on the right side of history is much more important than having a few extra thousand dollars because a brand was like, ‘Oh, she’s neutral enough to work with.'”
Additionally, three Jewish influencers told NBC News that after posting about the conflict, they experienced negative feedback from their followers and even saw a decline in their following numbers.
Food influencer Morgan Raum, who has over 150,000 Instagram followers, stated that although she doesn’t think people should rely on lifestyle influencers for news or information about the war, her Jewish identity and personal connections have driven her to post in favor of Israel and raise money for Israeli causes over the past month.
“In general, I think it’s kind of foolish that a lot of people are expecting creators and influencers to speak about these issues,” the speaker stated. “I don’t think people should be relying on these influencers for their information—those who post about food, fashion, and beauty.”
Raum reported that the reactions to her posts have been mixed, with some praising her and others accusing her of exaggerating. The most concerning have been the threats of actual physical harm. After writing a post about antisemitism, Raum claimed to have lost more than 1,000 followers. NBC News verified this claim using the social media analytics tool SocialBlade.
“I feel obligated to talk about it morally, especially since I don’t think anyone who isn’t Jewish does,” Raum remarked. “If I’m not discussing it, then who is?”
Posting, according to Jewish and Palestinian creators, is a moral obligation. With over 360,000 followers on X, Palestinian-Canadian comedian Saeed Awawdeh has written on his experiences growing up in the West Bank, having family there, and feeling compelled to use his platform to support Palestinian rights.
Awawdeh stated in a post that although he didn’t enjoy writing about Palestinian casualties, he would not “not use any platform to bring attention to what they go through.” He did not reply to a request for an interview.
In addition, he has shared screenshots of direct messages that individuals sent him, some of which contained violent and insulting statements directed at Muslims, Arabs, and Palestinians.
Being a queer Jewish creator with over 1.5 million Instagram followers, Matt Bernstein is accustomed to online hate because he is known for condensing progressive American issues into infographics. However, some of the comments on his posts—most notably one that demanded a cease-fire—have even shocked him.
Bernstein has received a lot of criticism from people who claim he is no longer Jewish, call him “self-hating,” accuse him of “blood libel,” or even make homophobic remarks about his appearance. These people include Jewish influencers and organizations with millions of followers. Additionally, he has gotten a lot of encouragement from influencers and celebrities.
Bernstein explained that he felt driven to post in spite of the backlash he had received.
He remarked, “I wasn’t watching things get worse and worse, but I don’t think you just have to post for the sake of posting.” “And we’re continuing to observe it.”
