When Lies Become Weapons: How Disinformation and Hate Continue to Endanger Our Family

It has been five years since Hezbollah unjustly detained Amer Fakhoury, in Lebanon—a trauma that forever changed my family. During those dark days, we faced not only the agony of his imprisonment but also a relentless wave of threats and hate from Hezbollah supporters. We were told we deserved to die next, that a bullet to the head was all that awaited us. The pain of losing our father was compounded by the cruelty of strangers who turned our suffering into a spectacle.

A few weeks ago, we finally achieved a measure of justice: a US court ruled that Amer Fakhoury was, in fact, held hostage by Hezbollah in Lebanon, and that the Iranian regime was responsible for this injustice. The truth has been established—Amer Fakhoury was a victim, not a criminal.

This week, something remarkable happened. The very prosecutor from Lebanon who presided over Amer’s case went on national television and spoke the truth we have always known: Amer Fakhoury was unjustly detained, his reputation was assassinated by Hezbollah’s smear campaign, and the Lebanese government—fully controlled by Hezbollah at the time—was complicit in his suffering.

And yet, instead of bringing closure, this truth unleashed another round of hate. A Lebanese news station, Al-Mahatta, released a YouTube video packed with lies: that Amer had an Israeli citizenship, that he was a notorious criminal, that he was “the butcher of Khiam.” All blatant fabrications. Before 2019, almost no one even knew Amer Fakhoury’s name.

The video was designed for one purpose—to rile up Hezbollah supporters. And it worked. My family was once again inundated with threats and abuse, this time amplified by social media.

To make matters worse, so-called journalists like Hassan Illiak used US-based platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube to spread these lies, knowing full well they had been disproven in court. Their posts triggered another avalanche of hate and threats against my family.

How is this possible?
How can individuals and media outlets, with a history of inciting violence and spreading hate, be allowed to weaponize US social media platforms? How can lies—proven false in a court of law—be given a megaphone to endanger the lives of innocent people?

We need to do more. Misinformation and hate like this do not just stay online—they have real-world consequences. Every time these lies are spread, they not only tarnish my father’s legacy but also put our family at real risk. There are Hezbollah supporters living in the United States who could be incited by this rhetoric. We have even received disgusting calls to our family restaurant in the past. The failure to address and remove such dangerous misinformation doesn’t just fail my family; it fails the safety and integrity of our entire community. Are we waiting for someone to get hurt before change happens?

This isn’t just about our story. It’s about every family who is targeted by smear campaigns, every victim of disinformation, and every person who feels voiceless in the face of relentless hate. The responsibility lies with social networks and all of us to push for stronger action against those who use these platforms to endanger and intimidate others.

We will continue to speak the truth about Amer Fakhoury. We will not be silenced by hate, intimidation, or lies. But we are calling on US platforms—X, YouTube, and others—to take a stand. Remove the content that incites violence and spreads disinformation. Protect families from targeted harassment. Hold accountable those who use your platforms to endanger others. We also call on the U.S. State Department to speak publicly about the ongoing disinformation and threats we continue to face, and to work with us to ensure that American families are protected from foreign-backed smear campaigns and intimidation—even here on U.S. soil. In a world where lies can spread faster than truth, our government must do more to defend its citizens and uphold justice.

Until then, we will keep fighting—for justice, for truth, and for Amer’s legacy.