UN report alleges Western media and tech platforms helped conceal Gaza genocide and urges accountability under international law

A report by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, presented to the General Assembly, alleges that influential media organizations and digital platforms helped distort public understanding of the violence in Gaza and obstruct accountability. Titled “Truth under the rubble: media in the time of genocide,” it describes the conduct as “mediacide,” or the systematic destruction of the media’s public function to conceal war crimes.

The report says the editorial frameworks of influential outlets, including the BBC and The New York Times, relied heavily on Israeli military sources while suppressing context about decades of systemic oppression. It also says major Western broadcasters and publications routinely repeated unverified claims from parties to the conflict, marginalized Palestinian voices and erased the legal realities of occupation.