Cork travel YouTuber criticised for Syrian visit

Janet Newenham pictured in her YouTube video 'ALEPPO, SYRIA // SOLO Tourist in SYRIA in 2021'.

A popular Cork YouTuber has been criticised for helping the Syrian regime spread disinformation after filming a tourism video inside the destroyed city of Homs.

Janet Newenham has more than 170,000 followers on her YouTube channel, where she publishes videos of her travels around the world.

This week Ms Newenham was the focus of a Washington Post article after she used her platform to spread disinformation on the Syrian Civil War.

Sophie Fullerton, a researcher on Syria who wrote the initial article, said that for many influencers, Syria is useful for career building and expanding their audience.

“Syria is a career-builder for many influencers, the market is oversaturated and not many people have been there,” she said. 

People who are just starting out and might have just 2,000 followers go to Syria and suddenly they go viral and wind up with 30,000 followers."

Ms Newenham, who pinned a Syrian video to her YouTube profile, joins a list of Irish citizens who have contributed to the spread of disinformation on the Assad regime after visiting the destroyed city of Homs in November 2021.

Regime visas are strictly vetted and brokered by travel agents who appoint ‘guides’ approved by the Syrian government to carefully select what information and sites are available to travel.

Ms Newenham maintained she was not influenced by the Syrian government during her visit, yet videos showed her government minder presenting his credentials to soldiers.

Janet Newenham pictured in her YouTube video 'A Solo Tourist in Damascus, Syria [World's OLDEST City'. 

She told the 44,000 people who viewed the video that foreign attackers had destroyed a mosque in the city, following lines from a disinformation campaign by the Assad regime which is attempting to rewrite the role Russia and the regime played in the destruction of Syrian towns and cities.

In her video, Ms Newenham says: "Who destroyed the mosque? He [her minder] said it was airstrikes from people from outside of Syria, so I guess people from other countries that destroyed it”. 

The mosque was destroyed by shelling from the Syrian army during fighting in Homs.

Ms Newenham is now reporting the accounts of Syrians who have criticised her trip and, when asked for comment, did not reply.

She has received online criticism, along with the education company that sponsored her Syrian videos.

Several Irish bloggers, activists, trade unionists, and political figures have visited the regime in recent years.

Politicians Clare Daly and Mick Wallace have previously been criticised for their travels to Syria.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has issued a ‘do not travel’ warning for Irish citizens planning on visiting Syria.