SKeyes Special · InflueAnswers
Online Hate and the Fragility of Lebanon's Social Fabric
Since 2005, Lebanon has witnessed numerous assassinations with no one held accountable. The escalating division and polarization within the country have spilled over into the online sphere, where, within minutes of any security incident, X (formerly Twitter) becomes inundated with hate speech and disinformation. These toxic narratives poison online discourse, exacerbating divisions and animosity. From X, the narratives permeate other social platforms as well as television broadcast and eventually seep, offline, into the minds of readers, further atomizing them into opposing camps.
In most cases, two antagonistic directions emerge: anti-Hezbollah and anti-Lebanese Forces. Rather than promoting ideas, these online groups exist in the virtual space solely to combat each other.
On April 7, 2024, around 19:05, Pascal Sleiman, the Lebanese Forces (LF) Jbeil district coordinator, was kidnapped and killed. His body was found in Syria. The incident triggered an immediate and visceral online reaction — a torrent of hate speech, disinformation, and sectarian incitement that rapidly spread across platforms. The Lebanese information environment transformed the tragedy into a political battlefield before any facts had been established.
Through an examination of the online discourse surrounding Pascal Sleiman's kidnapping and killing, the objectives of this report are threefold:
- To chronologically uncover the divisive narratives and disinformation spread on X, analyzing their ripple effects and offline reactions in a country confronted with regional war and heightened polarization.
- To establish the patterns, sources, and networks disseminating these narratives.
- To advocate with Lebanese Authorities and X to contain the harm of these networks from the platform and hold them accountable under Lebanese law.
This report was authored by Ralph Baydoun, CEO of InflueAnswers, with the support of the Samir Kassir Foundation, as part of the latter's Inclusive Media, Cohesive Society (IMeCS) program.