Palianswers: crowdsourced database to combat anti-Palestinian propaganda

AMMAN — A crowdsourced online database dubbed Palianswers providing short factual rebuttals to false online information about Palestine has been drawing thousands of users to the site. 

The database was created by a group of volunteers in response to the overwhelming proliferation of disinformation and propaganda surrounding the plight of the Palestinian people and the ongoing mass killing of civilians in Gaza, according to a statement by Palianswers.

The database, which can be accessed at palianswers.com, is designed to serve as an intuitive and easily accessible platform to provide clear and simple explanations to online audiences about issues that are essential to the Palestinian issue, such as the history of Palestine and the Nakba, the Israeli occupation, and others, the statement said.

In recent months, the database has served as a potent tool for empowering users against the growing flood of disinformation campaigns and state-sponsored propaganda being weaponized against the Palestinian people, particularly on the world’s most popular social media platforms. 

Palianswers is dynamic by design, allowing volunteers to contribute to the growing repository of rebuttals in addition to submitting requests for new ones, all of which are carefully monitored by an editorial team that fact-checks submissions to safeguard accuracy. This ensures that content is consistently being updated and expanded to stay ahead of false narratives. 

Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza last October, journalists have documented an unprecedented surge in the volume of disinformation campaigns designed to dehumanize and vilify the Palestinian people and marshal public support for Israel’s plausible genocide in Gaza, particularly among audiences in the West.

 These campaigns are often built around longstanding myths and state-sponsored narratives that can easily be refuted with evidence, a process which becomes increasingly difficult for the average user to navigate due to the sheer volume of disinformation being propagated online. 

Palianswers is an attempt to remedy this serious violation of public trust, providing users with referenced information and links to relevant sources, thereby enabling them to become part of a larger movement to combat disinformation online. 

In addition to being searchable, the database also offers content by theme and covers a wide range of topics essential to the current crisis. Efforts are also ongoing to further broaden the network of volunteers working on content generation to bolster reach and impact.