Ibrahim Negm: Senior advisor to the Grand Mufti of Egypt
In modern conflicts, battles are no longer confined to trenches or missiles-they have extended into our news feeds. Nations and leaders are openly acknowledging that controlling social media algorithms is akin to wielding a new kind of weapon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently admitted that his government views social media platforms as a “weapon” to bolster Israel’s faltering image amid the Gaza war . Speaking to a group of pro-Israel American influencers in New York, Netanyahu was candid: “We have to fight with weapons that apply to the battlefields in which we’re engaged, and the most important ones are on social media” . In other words, Facebook posts and TikTok videos have become munitions in an unfolding “algorithm war,” a high-stakes struggle to shape global perception and public opinion.
This revelation comes as Israel faces mounting international outrage over its actions in Gaza . The context is stark: while bombs fall on Gaza, a parallel campaign rages online to influence how that war is seen abroad. For leaders like Netanyahu, securing narrative dominance on platforms like TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and YouTube is now as critical as any military operation. Social media has become a frontline where images and stories can win sympathy or stoke anger in real time, potentially swaying foreign public opinion and, by extension, the policies of democratic governments. In the information age, controlling the algorithm—the invisible code that decides what content people see—is a means of controlling the story of the war itself.
Among all platforms, TikTok stands out as a prized battleground in this algorithm war. The Chinese-owned app has hundreds of millions of young users in the West, and its potent algorithm can make content go mega-viral in minutes. Notably, TikTok became a platform where raw footage from Gaza and pro-Palestinian voices found a massive audience, influencing the views of a new generation of Americans . This worried pro-Israel politicians in the U.S., who criticized TikTok for showing too many videos of Gaza’s suffering and pro-Palestinian content that were galvanizing youth opinion . For those seeking to control the narrative, TikTok’s algorithm was a threat—unless they could somehow rein it in.
Netanyahu’s strategy to neutralize that threat has been to bring TikTok under friendly control. In the same meeting with influencers, he praised a prospective deal for U.S. companies (mostly owned by pro-Israel businessmen) to acquire TikTok’s American operations, calling it “the most important purchase going on right now” . Indeed, in late 2025 a $14 billion deal brokered by then-President Donald Trump forced TikTok’s Chinese parent to spin off its U.S. arm to a consortium of American billionaires and Gulf Arab royals . Many of these investors—such as Oracle’s Larry Ellison, tech magnate Michael Dell, and media baron Rupert Murdoch—are outspoken supporters of Israel . The fear (and likely the intent) is that under new ownership, TikTok’s powerful algorithm could be tuned to dampen content critical of Israel and amplify content favorable to the Israeli narrative . In a conflict where images of devastation can sway hearts and minds, owning the platform that distributes those images confers a staggering influence.
The TikTok saga illustrates a broader point: control of a social media platform is now geopolitical capital. Just as oil or strategic waterways were prized in 20th-century conflicts, today it’s user data and recommendation algorithms. By attempting to control TikTok, the U.S. and its allies signaled that no major information platform can remain outside their influence. In their view, TikTok’s algorithm must not be left in unfriendly hands—especially not when it has been “heavily influencing the opinions of young Americans” in directions they deem harmful . This is algorithm warfare in action: wresting control of a digital pipeline to ensure your version of the story flows through.
Controlling the narrative also means influencing those who control the platforms. In the social media battlefield, figures like Elon Musk—the owner of X (Twitter)—are power brokers akin to kings. It was no accident that Netanyahu told his influencers “we have to talk to Elon. He’s not an enemy, but a friend” . Since Musk took over X, the platform has been seen as increasingly friendly to right-wing discourse, with looser moderation that allows disinformation to spread more freely . For Israel’s messaging campaign, Musk’s X is a valuable conduit, not an adversary. By embracing Musk as an ally, pro-Israel strategists signal they expect a hospitable environment on X for their content—one where pro-Palestinian voices might be throttled or drowned out by an algorithm tilting toward their narrative.
This overture to Musk highlights how tech magnates and governments are entwined in the information wars. Each needs the other: social platforms crave influence and profit, while governments crave platforms that bend to their interests. We’ve seen this dance elsewhere too. Facebook and Google have long faced pressure to curb content deemed harmful by various states, sometimes complying in order to protect market access. In authoritarian countries, the arrangement is even more explicit—the price of operating is often strict alignment with the regime’s information control. What’s new is that even democratically elected leaders are now openly strategizing about wooing or pressuring tech CEOs to get the algorithmic outcomes they want.
The line between state and tech is thus blurring. We are witnessing the emergence of a “military-tech complex” of sorts, where influence is negotiated in Silicon Valley boardrooms as much as in war rooms. When a president signs an executive order about an app (as Trump did for TikTok ), or when a head of state treats a tech mogul like a diplomatic stakeholder, it’s clear that social media platforms have graduated from mere companies to strategic assets. In this new reality, algorithms become geopolitical territories to be won or lost. And tech tycoons, by virtue of their control over these algorithms, become de facto governors of information realms—courted by governments, or, if courting fails, cast as threats to be contained.
While Facebook, X, and TikTok dominate headlines, the algorithm war extends to other digital realms as well. Consider the world of video games—an industry often dismissed as mere entertainment. In fact, online games and esports platforms are massive, globally connected social spaces, especially for young people. They too are becoming arenas for influence. Savvy governments have noticed that a popular game can carry cultural values or subtle messaging just as effectively as a film or news report. Moreover, the infrastructure of gaming—streams, chats, recommendation engines in gaming communities—are yet another set of algorithms that shape what young people see and believe.
Some countries are moving aggressively to capture this new high ground of soft power. A striking example is Saudi Arabia. The oil-rich kingdom has pledged an astonishing $38 billion to invest in the gaming industry by 2030 . Through its Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia has bought stakes in major game publishers (from Nintendo to EA) and is building a regional hub for gaming. Why? “Gaming is Saudi Arabia’s bet on a post-oil economy, and a way to grow soft power,” explains one expert on the business of video games . The Saudi crown prince—an avid gamer himself—clearly recognizes that the values and imagery in games, and the global fandom around them, can be harnessed to improve his country’s image and influence. By owning pieces of the gaming ecosystem, Saudi Arabia can subtly steer content and conversations, projecting a modern, youth-friendly image to counteract criticism of its human rights record . In essence, Riyadh is hedging that the hearts and minds of Gen Z might be won not just in newsrooms or classrooms, but in virtual battle arenas and fantasy worlds.
This strategy isn’t limited to one country. It is a glimpse into the future of geopolitical competition: a world where your favorite video game or streaming series might be part of a nation’s soft-power arsenal. Hollywood movies and national television used to be the main vehicles of cultural influence; now, a hit Netflix series or a trending video game can do the job, guided by recommendation algorithms that decide who sees what. The algorithm war thus has fronts in entertainment and culture as much as in news and politics. From Beijing heavily censoring and curating its domestic internet content, to Washington scrutinizing Chinese apps, to smaller states investing in media and gaming companies – everyone is trying to either weaponize or shield themselves from the persuasive power of digital content.
What we are witnessing is a global race to own the narrative infrastructure of the 21st century. It’s not just Israel or the U.S. or Saudi Arabia; virtually every player on the world stage has realized that controlling information flows is critical to power. Russia has its notorious disinformation farms and has weaponized social media to influence elections abroad. China maintains its Great Firewall and has built parallel social platforms under tight state supervision to maintain its narrative at home – and perhaps one day export it. Western democracies, for all their talk of free speech, have not been shy either about using backdoor pressures on tech firms or leveraging their own media outlets to push their agendas. In this landscape, algorithms are like the new nukes – fiercely guarded, sometimes deployed covertly, and capable of causing massive societal shifts if unleashed unchecked.
The “algorithm war” is in some ways an arms race with no clear end. Each tweak of a platform’s content moderation policy, each acquisition of a media app, each state-funded influencer tour is a salvo in this war of influence. The targets are not military bases or cities, but the beliefs and emotions of ordinary people scrolling through their phones. Victory is measured not by territory gained, but by hearts and minds won. And unlike traditional wars, this battle plays out in the background of our daily lives—often unnoticed by those whose opinions are being fought over.
In this brave new world, awareness is our first line of defense. The public must recognize that what appears on our screens is not always mere happenstance or pure popularity—often, there is an unseen hand (or algorithm) curating our reality. When Netanyahu calls social media a weapon and openly plots to reshape algorithms , it’s a stark reminder that we, the users, are living in contested territory. Every time we share a post or watch a video, we might be unwitting participants in someone’s influence campaign.
What can be done? For one, tech companies should be more transparent about how content is prioritized or suppressed. Civil society and journalists need to keep investigating and exposing state manipulation of digital platforms. But perhaps most importantly, each of us needs to become a more critical consumer of information. We should ask: Who wants me to see this content? Who might benefit if I believe or amplify it? By thinking beyond the surface—by looking “to what’s behind the algorithm,” so to speak—we become harder targets for propaganda.
The ongoing algorithm war also calls for digital literacy on a massive scale. Just as past generations learned to question what they read in print, we must learn to question what the almighty algorithm serves up to us. Influencers may charm us with relatable content, but we should stay curious about their backers and motivations. A trending hashtag might genuinely reflect grassroots sentiment—or it might be artificially pushed by interest groups. Not everything viral is organically viral.
Finally, the solution might not be to disengage, but to engage more consciously. Social media and online platforms, for all their flaws, also democratize voice. The same tools used to spread propaganda can spread truth – if wielded by informed, ethical users. In a sense, we are all soldiers in the narrative battlefield now. By choosing what to share, whom to follow, and when to speak up, individuals can counteract even the most sophisticated disinformation machine. It’s a daunting responsibility, but also a hopeful one: the algorithms may set the stage, but human agency still directs the play.
In conclusion, the “algorithm war” underpins almost every issue we care about, from human rights to public health to climate action. We ignore it at our peril. The sooner we acknowledge that the fight for truth and justice now runs through servers and smartphones, the better equipped we’ll be to defend those ideals. Wars of the future—and the present—are fought with code and cognition as much as with bullets. And in this new kind of war, awareness and critical thought are the shields we all must carry.
