Pages on social media circulated a report attributed to the Israeli newspaper "Maariv", claiming that the media directorate in the Israeli government had instructed local outlets to limit their criticism of the Syrian government and to stop campaigns against it.
The fact-checking team reviewed the archive of "Maariv", alongside searches using keywords tied to the content of the claim, and found no published report or statement containing the circulated information or attributing it to an official source. Searches of relevant Israeli sources likewise showed nothing confirming that such directives had been issued.
Why is this claim false?
Fabricated news: The claim rested on attributing a non-existent report to a well-known Israeli newspaper, lending it the cover of a credible source and pushing audiences to believe official directives had been issued when none were.
