Hillary Clinton warned that anti-Israel sentiment in the U.S. is being fueled by social media, which she said feeds young Americans a steady diet of "pure propaganda" and even "totally made-up" videos about the war in Gaza.
Speaking Tuesday at a New York conference hosted by the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, the former secretary of state said she was struck by how many "smart, well-educated" young people were getting their understanding of the Hamas terrorists' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the war in Gaza almost entirely from social media, particularly short-form video on TikTok.
"That is where they were learning about what happened on Oct. 7, what happened in the days, weeks, and months to follow," Clinton said, calling it "a serious problem" not only for Israel but "for democracy" in the United States.
Clinton described the online narrative battle as a generational challenge rather than a strictly partisan one, warning that the "battle for the historical narrative" is being lost in the algorithm-driven churn of viral clips.
She said misinformation flooded platforms almost immediately after Hamas' attack, flipping the story "upside down" for many young viewers who lacked basic context about the region and the conflict.
A professor of practice at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, Clinton argued that the problem is compounded by a knowledge gap: students and young Americans who haven't learned the history are more vulnerable to manipulation.
She noted that this confusion isn't limited to political activists, saying even some young Jewish Americans are struggling to separate facts from propaganda because they "don't know the history and don't understand."
The former U.S. senator from New York suggested that, with the Israeli hostages having been released, now is the time to "take stock of where we are, both in Israel and in this country, learn the lessons that perhaps can help us determine a more productive future."
"There is a great deal of valid concern about how Israel is viewed, not just around the world, but from the United States, how Jewish Americans are viewed, and what is being seen as a significant increase in antisemitism in real life and online," she said.
Clinton's remarks echo what conservatives have been saying for years: social media companies aren't neutral "platforms" but rather powerful gatekeepers shaping what millions of Americans believe is true.
Clinton also framed the issue as bigger than any one war, warning that the same dynamics threatening Israel's standing are undermining civic trust at home.
When more than half of young Americans get their news through social media, she said, democracy itself becomes easier to distort because the public no longer shares a common set of facts.
Her comments echo longstanding concerns raised across the political spectrum about foreign propaganda, coordinated disinformation campaigns, and the way adversaries exploit open platforms to inflame division.
But Clinton's message at the Israel Hayom summit was unusually direct: if Americans can't tell what's real online — or don't even know enough history to evaluate what they're seeing — then bad actors win by default.
And, in her view, that's exactly what's happening now, one viral clip at a time.
Newsmax Wires contributed to this report.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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