So when a Twitter account with the handle @SatmarStrong posted a video of a large wedding with thousands of people not wearing masks, it quickly racked up thousands of views and dozens of retweets. Except it wasn’t real.
The video was taken at the wedding of Satmar Grand Rabbi Zalman Teitelbaum’s grandson in 2006, according to Abby Stein, a transgender activist, and Meyer Labin, a writer and translator. Both were at the wedding, they said, and called out the tweet for spreading disinformation.
Btw, @SatmarStrong – do you have more videos from that 2006 wedding? Would love to see the part of my grandfather singing before he danced Mitzvah Tantz at that wedding… I was standing right behind him— Abby Stein (@AbbyChavaStein) October 20, 2020
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The @SatmarStrong Twitter account was created this month and had only 19 followers as of Tuesday. Multiple users said they would report the tweet for containing lies, and it was later deleted. The account has no other tweets.
Incidents of assaults and verbal attacks on Orthodox Jews have increased in recent weeks as some blamed Orthodox Jews for the city’s increasing case numbers. A video that went viral on social media showing a man yelling at an Orthodox man, who was walking and talking on a cellphone without wearing a mask but far from other people, to put his mask on.
A 12 year old video, posted as if it occured last night, already has almost 21K views & tags to media & politicians, because a brand new anonymous Twitter account wants to embarrass the Satmar Jewish community.