A portrait of Pascal Sleiman brandished at the funeral of the Lebanese Forces executive, April 12, 2024, in Jbeil. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L'Orient-Le Jour)
Like other high-profile security incidents in Lebanon, the kidnapping and murder of Lebanese Forces (LF) official Pascal Sleiman has provoked tension in the streets, but also a storm on social networks.
In a 43-page report published on Tuesday, the Samir Kassir Foundation's SKeyes Center analyzes the hate speech, misinformation and incitement to violence conveyed by mostly anonymous pro-Hezbollah and pro-LF accounts on the X network. The study also looks at anti-Syrian refugee rhetoric, given that the suspects have been identified by the authorities as members of a Syrian gang.
'National security'
Pascal Sleiman was head of the Lebanese Forces office in the Jbeil district. He was kidnapped on April 7 in Kharbeh by armed individuals during the alleged theft of his car. His body was found in Syria the following day and Syrian suspects were arrested in Lebanon. On May 14, First Investigating Judge of Mount Lebanon Nicolas Mansour issued arrest warrants for two suspects who were detained and interrogated. Five arrest warrants in absentia were issued for other suspects who had fled to Syria.
Initially, the LF pointed the finger at Hezbollah. The party, however, denied any involvement in the murder. On the Internet, partisan accounts of the two rival political camps exchanged accusations, false information and hate speech of virulence that, according to SKeyes, “threatens national security.”
For example, pro-LF accounts made accusations against Hezbollah, based on rumors that Sleiman had been taken to a Shiite village in Jbeil. On the other hand, pro-Hezbollah Internet users accused the LF of staging the disappearance and spreading defamatory rumors about the victim.
Of 221 messages analyzed on the subject of “political polarization,” 64.7 percent contained accusations against the LF following the kidnapping, while 35.3 percent targeted Hezbollah. In another sample of 104 messages, 62.5 percent contained misinformation and 20.2 percent hate speech. Of these messages, 76.92 percent were posted by anti-LF accounts, compared with 19.23 percent by anti-Hezbollah users.
Observers regularly denounce the effectiveness and virulence of the “electronic army” close to Hezbollah, which becomes active on social networks when polemics target the Party of God.
Anti-refugee incitement
Once the identity of the suspects had been established, anti-Syrian refugee rhetoric took over. While anti-refugee rhetoric is far from new on social networks in Lebanon, this incident helped to reinforce it, notes SKeyes. In a sample of 88 anti-refugee posts, 52.27 percent called for the deportation of Syrians, while 20.4 percent considered their presence an “existential threat.”
The SKeyes report noteed that every major security incident “turns into a virtual battle on social networks, rich in disinformation, hate speech and propaganda.” “The consequences of Pascal Sleiman's kidnapping clearly show the dangerous convergence between virtual rhetoric and real-world repercussions,” the text continued.
To address these risks, the report calls for “a multifaceted approach, combining legal interventions and regulatory measures” to hold the perpetrators of this hate speech accountable for their actions. To this end, the report calls for concerted efforts between government institutions, civil society, the media and the Lebanese themselves.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.