An Al Jazeera investigation exposes that an Israeli counter-film used fabricated view counts to appear popular.
A recent Al Jazeera investigation uncovered fake viewership numbers for an Israeli film. This movie serves as a response to a documentary called NAZA. The original film features military whistleblowers who discuss AI targeting in Gaza.
After the original film gained global attention, Israeli officials reacted strongly. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for an investigation into its creators. Some politicians even threatened to strip the directors of their citizenship.
Meanwhile, opponents released a counter-film to shift the narrative. The creators hid their identity behind private web registrations. One website briefly pretended to be the original NAZA project before changing its name.
Next, the counter-film website displayed a counter claiming over 43 million views. However, independent research shows this number is completely false. The film’s official YouTube page shows fewer than 130,000 views.
Also, the website’s own traffic analysis tools show very low visitor numbers. Experts confirm the site does not rank among the world's most popular domains. The claimed statistics simply do not match actual public interest.
Then, the investigation looked into the website’s computer code. It found the counter is designed to look like it is growing live. The server hides the true method used to calculate these inflated figures.
As a result, the site tracks actual viewer behavior but keeps that data private. It uses a hidden file to monitor watch times. The public counter does not seem to reflect this real data at all.
Finally, official Israeli government accounts helped promote these false numbers. The Israeli Embassy in Washington shared the film on social media. Officials even gave awards to the creators for their work.
These events happen during the ongoing war in Gaza. Health officials report tens of thousands of deaths since the conflict began last year. The government continues to use these fake metrics to support its public narrative.