By Sanya Burgess, digital investigations journalist
A simple red triangle emoji has been popping up across social media.
Hamas has posted videos that use a red triangle to highlight the locations of IDF positions, such as in this screenshot:
It has now been adopted by some pro-Palestine social media users as a symbol of resistance against Israel.
Some say they use the symbol because a red triangle makes up part of the Palestinian flag, while other social media users that use the red triangle appear to post messages in support of Hamas directly.
One X user, that has a verified account, shared a video of Hamas’s attacks on and since 7 October, in which they are described as “heroes” and ends with a message from the video’s narrator: “Long live the triangle.”
The video has been viewed more than 120,000 times.
Data from social listening platform TalkWalker shows posts on X that include a red triangle and the word “Hamas” have increased in recent weeks.
Looking at the past three months, the posts appear to have become more frequent since 7 October, with a peak of 5,000 posts being recorded on 5 December.
Not everyone who uses the symbol may be posting the red triangle to express support for Hamas or more generally Palestine.
For example, Nimko Ali is the CEO of an organisation working to end the practise of female genital mutilation (FGM).
She commented on X, formerly known as Twitter: “I and many others have been using it for years for ending FGM. Mine has been on my profile since 2017.”
