Exposing the Qatar-Built Media Pipeline That's Pushing Anti-Western Narratives

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Last week, Townhall exposed how Qatar is spending billions of dollars to indoctrinate students at Western colleges and universities while also funding Islamic terrorism across the globe.

In addition to fomenting anti-Western, pro-Hamas sentiment on college campuses and funding terrorism, Qatar also wages an information war in the media and online. By using outlets like Al Jazeera and The New York Times, as well as Facebook parent company Meta, Qatar seeks to manipulate algorithms and influence our political process.

Qatar and Journalism

Qatar started Al Jazeera, the Muslim world's biggest outlet, in 1996 with a $150 million grant from the Qatari Emir. Based in Doha, Al Jazeera has ties to Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

According to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD):

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) published captured documents on October 23 indicating that six Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza are members of either Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). The IDF has released other documents tying Al Jazeera correspondents to terrorist organizations, but the latest documents provide the most detailed evidence of this connection.
The captured documents show that Anas al-Sharif, Hussam Shabat, Ashraf Saraj, and Ismail Abu Omar belong to Hamas, while Alaa Salama and Talal Aruki are part of PIJ. The IDF noted that “documents include personnel tables, lists of terrorist training courses, phone directories, and salary documents for terrorists.” The personnel tables include the ranks and ID numbers for each of the six correspondents. Al Jazeera said the documents were “fabricated evidence” and “a blatant attempt to silence the few remaining journalists in the region.”
The IDF said it found the documents in Gaza but did not provide further details. There are Hamas and PIJ markings on multiple pages, but the IDF did not say how it authenticated the documents or their contents. However, there are some indications online and in social media of the six reporters’ ties to Hamas.

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In 2010, the US Treasury Department issued sanctions on Al-Aqsa TV, claiming the network was "financed and controlled by Hamas." On October 7, 2023, Ismail Abu Omar, a photojournalist who once worked for Al-Aqsa, was with Hamas as the terrorists infiltrated Israel, killing 1,200 and taking hundreds more hostage. Omar wasn't the only one, and the Associated Press even shared office space with Hamas.

Al Jazeera acts under the orders and control of Qatar, and in 2020 was required to register as a foreign agent. According to US Press Freedom Tracker:

The U.S. Department of Justice ordered Al Jazeera’s U.S.-based social media division, AJ+, to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act on Sept. 14, 2020.
In a letter obtained by Mother Jones, Jay Bratt, chief of the DOJ’s counterintelligence and export control section, wrote that AJ+ acts “at the direction and control” of the leaders of Qatar.
“Despite assertions of editorial independence and freedom of expression, Al Jazeera Media Network and its affiliates are controlled and funded by the Government of Qatar,” Bratt wrote.

Al Jazeera condemned the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) order, saying "it appears the designation was a precondition of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to ‘normalise’ diplomatic ties with Israel."

Qatar is also providing funding to The New York Times and Tucker Carlson, according to FARA documents.

Qatar and Social Media

Al Jazeera + (AJ+) uses fake social media accounts to amplify anti-Western sentiment and anti-US voices. It specifically pushes anti-US voices that seek to harm the relationship between the US and Israel. Al Jazeera describes AJ+ as a "social justice lens on a world struggling for change" and says it is "the trailblazing brainchild of the young-and-restless creative minds of Al Jazeera’s Incubation and Innovation Unit, who earlier than most saw the emerging opportunity to reach a millennial audience with a video news product delivered via social media platforms."

A study by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) and Cyabra social media analytics firm showed some revealing facts:

— 32% of the profiles engaging with AJ+’s official X accounts were identified as fake, revealing a calculated strategy to artificially boost the platform’s visibility through coordinated inauthentic activity. These profiles consistently disseminated divisive narratives, with a strong emphasis on anti-Israel propaganda, aligning closely with the themes promoted by AJ+’s accounts.
— Fake profiles were instrumental in redirecting traffic from X to AJ+’s TikTok account, often sharing identical messages and links to orchestrate cross-platform engagement. This deliberate manipulation focused on promoting specific AJ+ TikTok videos tied to highly contentious anti-U.S. and anti-Israel narratives, amplifying their visibility and shaping key public discussions.
— The evidence suggests not only a clear intent to exploit social media algorithms but also represent a direct violation of X’s policies on inauthentic behavior, which are designed to prevent the misuse of the platform for spreading propaganda and deceptive practices. By leveraging fake accounts to manipulate discourse and amplify inflammatory content, AJ+ undermines platform integrity and transparency, contravening guidelines meant to ensure authentic and equitable engagement.

The Qatari-backed International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) has a history of extremism and amplifying violence online, including celebrating the Iranian missile attacks on Israel. In 2020, they responded to President Trump's Middle East peace plan by fomenting opposition online:

Qatar-backed International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) has a history of extremist stances. The most recent being their response condemning the US Middle East peace plan and its calls for the Muslim world to “use all means” against it.
As soon as the plan was announced by US President Donald Trump, the IUMS issued a statement and called on “all the free people of the world to oppose this eradication war by all means possible.”
On its website, the IUMS also published an excerpt from its founder, controversial hardline cleric Youssef al-Qaradawi, who once wrote that it was every Muslim’s duty to “wage jihad and sacrifice their souls in defense of Jerusalem.”
This is not the first time the IUMS, which is financially backed by Qatar, has prompted backlash over its stances. Most recently, it opposed an historic high-level visit by the Mecca-based Muslim World League (MWL) to the Nazi Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. IUMS President Ahmed al-Raissouni wrote that “it is a right and an obligation to question the Holocaust.”
Last April, the IUMS urged Muslim preachers across the world to focus their weekly Friday sermons on calling for armed jihad against Israel.

FARA documents also showed Qatar gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

Why does Qatar spend billions on influencing media outlets and social media platforms?

The goal is as simple as it is clear: they want to destroy the West and with it the liberal, diverse, and democratic nations in which we live. Our civilization is built on the rule of law, a belief in self-determination, and freedom of expression. Representative governance, legal equality, and individual liberty are the backbone of America and the West. Qatar, and the radical Islamist groups they support — including Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood — would destroy that all in favor of an Islamic caliphate.

We have an obligation to stop it.

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