by Edan Ring, Vice President of Community and Social Affairs at The Israel Internet Association (ISOC-IL) On X/Twitter: @EdanRing Originally published in Haaretz July 6, 2025
Here’s why Israeli society is particularly vulnerable to the challenges of information warfare, fraud and disinformation – especially during times of conflict, such as during the Iran-Israel war.
The war between Israel and Iran highlighted the rising prominence of Telegram channels, particularly those offering “real-time news” updates, in the Israeli media ecosystem. But what is seen by the public as information is often just the opposite: misinformation.
According to a 2024 Pew Report, Israelis’ use of social media is higher than most of the EU and Asian countries included in the study. Indeed, Israel is among the most hyper-connected societies in the world, with record-breaking usage of social media, especially messaging apps and WhatsApp groups – surpassing most developed nations.
But in contrast to this digital immersion, according to the 2023 Media Literacy Index, information and media literacy levels in Israel are relatively low, ranking 32 out of the 47 democracies included in the list.
2023 Media Literacy Index
This means that the ability to critically evaluate and verify online content before sharing it is low. It’s simply not something taught in schools or cultivated in public discourse.
The Israeli intersection of high connectivity and poor critical thinking makes Israel especially vulnerable to the challenges of information warfare, fraud and disinformation. Telegram, a platform famously built on a near-total absence of moderation and guardrails, exacerbates this problem.
Telegram became a major media platform for Israelis following October 7, when the percentage of Israelis who installed on Telegram their devices jumped from 50 percent to 70 percent of the adult population. Many users were looking for information and updates during the surprise attack by Hamas on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza. The most recent escalation with Iran only intensified this trend.
According to data collected by the Israel Internet Association, during the first days following the Israeli attack on Iran, tens of thousands of Israelis joined the Telegram news channels. Some of these channels saw their subscriber counts increase by 10 to 20 percent, with several surpassing half a million subscribers – figures that rival or even surpass mainstream TV news broadcasts and mainstream websites in Israel.
In a reality of prolonged sheltering, growing uncertainty, overwhelming anxiety and amid military censorship, millions of Israelis turned to Telegram for information. Huddled in protected rooms, they refreshed Telegram obsessively in search of clarity and certainty, trying to figure out where missiles have landed.
Yet this urge for immediate and tangible answers in times of crisis may come with profound social and psychological costs – ones we are largely unaware of and ill-equipped to address. This is particularly true for young people, though not exclusively.
There are myriad dangers to such easily accessible and barely moderated information sources like Telegram. The app, for example, only recently began cracking down on child exploitation and human trafficking ongoing in its platform. But the distribution of other harmful or illegal content – including channels promoting terror, drug sales, weapons trafficking and of course, large volumes of false or manipulative disinformation – remains largely unchecked. In wartime, when public demand and attention spike, the dangers multiply.
What defines Telegram’s popular so-called “news” channels like the ones to which Israelis flock during emergencies is their open rejection of censorship, ethics and even the most basic journalistic principles of verification and fact checking.
It’s often unclear who runs these channels, what their interests are, where their information comes from or whether it’s been vetted by any authority responsible for controlling sensitive information in times of war.
Some argue that censorship and information control are obsolete in the age of digital networks – that “information wants to be free” and that social media platforms and apps make everything accessible anyway. But freedom of information does not – and should not – include the unregulated spread of falsehoods, foreign interference or AI-generated fabrications – much like those running free on Telegram channels and social media platforms like X.
Of course, there are many situations specifically in Israel when sensitive military content does need to be limited, where the public’s right to know may not outweigh the potential damage of exposure, especially if such exposure aids enemy forces. In a reality where some Israelis prioritize capturing a rocket strike over taking shelter, the viral spread of unverified and sensitive content may come at a serious public cost.
The widespread migration of Israelis to Telegram also exposes the fragility of Israel’s information environment (echoing global trends) toward news-influencers and short-form videos. This transition may stem in part from a deep mistrust in the media, official channels and traditional journalism – which in Israel is significantly lower than the OECD average – coupled with a craving for raw, unfiltered updates even at the expense of reliability and accuracy. In today’s Israeli media and political climate, immediacy and emotional impact often outweigh authenticity and credibility.
For children and teenagers, the consequences can be especially severe. The pace and volume of information, combined with the lack of filtering graphic images or adequate context can cause real psychological harm. Many Israeli teens now receive their news through Telegram or TikTok, often without their parents even knowing. The danger for them and for an entire generation growing up in an environment where a dramatic image or video matters more than journalistic framing and context is immense.
And then there are the Iranians and their proxies. Telegram is wide open to hostile foreign actors. Recent investigations and arrests by Israel’s Shin Bet have demonstrated just how easily foreign operatives can infiltrate local Telegram groups and channels to gather intelligence or interact directly with Israeli civilians, and those from more vulnerable demographics are at even higher risk. In times of unprecedented military escalation and conflict, Telegram is also becoming a goldmine of open-source intelligence for Iran and Israeli authorities are struggling with how to address this new threat.
The rising dominance of Telegram poses urgent challenges for information platforms, news outlets and governments at large, and not only in Israel. The prioritization of raw, unverified and dramatic content as well as “news” on social media during emergencies demands improving digital and media literacy, content moderation and of course some level of regulation.
Above all we urgently need to cultivate critical thinking and information literacy skills from an early age for all Israeli demographic groups. Israel should invest in its citizens’ ability to and value for fact checking. The public itself should demand accountability and transparency from social media platforms and advance effective legislation and supervision of these platforms in the Israeli information ecosystem.
In a chaotic era where armed conflict is in the air, on the ground and in cyberspace as well, this is an urgent and essential task.
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For more information about ISOC-IL’s activities on advancing disinformation resilience – explore here.