December 04, 2022
Netflix's pro-Palestinian film Farha is allegedly under attack in a coordinated attack from spam accounts to bomb the film with negative ratings on several rating platforms.
According to Middle East Eye, the movie's ratings slummed from 7.2 to 5.8 in a few hours, leading many activists and campaigners to allege a targeted campaign in the works.
As per activists, several negative reviews have come from the same source, containing similar comments, such as calling the film "one-sided" or a "big lie."
One review, titled "propaganda and fantasy," gave the film one star and called it an "over-emotional drama."
Former Al Jazeera journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin said the negative reviews were a coordinated effort to discourage the film and stop people from seeing it.
"The pacing of the posts reveals it was coordinated," he told Middle East Eye.
"With each passing hour, dozens and dozens of vapid and vile reviews would appear, making wild accusations trashing the film. It was clear people had not seen the film and only wanted to damage its reputation," he added.
Several accounts posting negative reviews of the movie were recently created, as per Shihab-Eldin,
He noted that almost 1,000 negative reviews suddenly posted on the website during a 24-hour period, which contained "inflammatory and hateful language."
Netflix's Farha depicts Nakba of 1948, where a teenage girl family was murdered by Israeli militias, including a baby.