After the pro-Palestine “All Eyes on Rafah” AI-generated image gained viral traction on social media, Israel responded with a similar image of its own. The counter-image includes the text “Where were your eyes on October 7” and shows an armed Hamas militant standing in front of an infant.
The infant in the image, according to Times of Israel, is believed to be Kfir Bibas, a nine-month-old who, along with his brother and mother, was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7.
What is “Where were your eyes on October 7′ trend?
Israel shared the AI-generated counter-image on social media platform X. This comes after the “All Eyes on Rafah” image was shared by over 44 million accounts on Instagram alone. Moreover, an AFP report citing online monitor Visibrain noted that the hashtag #alleyesonrafah on X received almost one million hits.
Sharing the image on X, Israel wrote, “We will NEVER stop talking about October 7th.” “We will NEVER stop fighting for the hostages,” it added.
On October 7 of the previous year, Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing 1,189 people.
Additionally, the militants took 252 people hostage, with 121 still in Gaza seven months into the war sparked by the Hamas attack. Israel claims that of the 121 hostages, 37 are dead.
Instagram takes down ‘Where were your eyes’ image creator’s account
According to the Times of Israel, the image was created by an Israeli Instagram user named Benjamin Jamon. Within hours of his posting, the AI-generated image was taken down, and his Instagram account was banned from the platform.
Initially, there was no explanation from Instagram about why the image was removed, but its parent company, Meta, stated that it was “working to understand a technical issue that led to some instances of the image being mistakenly removed.”
“This image does not violate our policies,” said the statement, adding that it was “working to understand what technical problem led to its accidental removal.”
This comes as, on Wednesday (May 29) human rights groups, as per the Guardian, coordinated an online protest calling on Meta to put an end to its alleged “systemic censorship of pro-Palestinian content” on its platforms and within the workforce.
Meta finds deceptive AI-generated content
Also, on Wednesday, Meta revealed that it had identified “likely AI-generated” content used deceptively on its Facebook and Instagram platforms. According to Reuters, this includes comments by accounts praising Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza, posted by accounts pretending to be Jewish students, African Americans, and other concerned citizens. Meta attributed the deceptive campaign to the Tel Aviv-based political marketing firm STOIC.