Gabriela Saldana’s Controversial WhatsApp Message to Netanyahu

Florida International University student Gabriela Saldana has been charged following a WhatsApp message in which she jokingly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “drop some bonbons” on the ocean, a statement authorities interpreted as a bomb threat, according to court records and university officials.

The incident occurred on April 15, 2026, in a 215-member WhatsApp group composed of capstone students from FIU’s College of Engineering and Computing. Saldana, a senior majoring in computer science, sent the message during a late-night study session, according to screenshots submitted as evidence by university IT staff who monitor the group for academic collaboration purposes.

Although the message was clearly intended as a sarcastic or absurdist joke — referencing the French word “bonbons” (candies) and the impossibility of a world leader distributing sweets over seawater — university officials reported it to the Miami-Dade Police Department’s cybercrime unit after an automated content flagging system detected keywords associated with explosives and public figures.

The system, part of FIU’s expanded digital safety monitoring protocol implemented in early 2026 following a rise in online harassment cases, uses natural language processing to scan student communication platforms for potential threats. When triggered, it alerts campus security, which then forwards credible leads to local law enforcement.

Saldana was contacted by university officials on April 16 and asked to provide a statement. She explained that the comment was a private joke among friends, referencing an inside meme from a recent linguistics seminar about literal translations of idioms. She stated she had no intent to threaten or cause alarm and immediately deleted the message after realizing it could be misinterpreted.

Despite her explanation, prosecutors filed a misdemeanor charge of “false report concerning a bomb” under Florida Statute 790.163, which criminalizes the transmission of any threat to use a destructive device, regardless of intent or plausibility. The statute does not require proof of capability or actual danger, only that the communication was made and could be reasonably interpreted as a threat.

Legal experts note that the case highlights growing tensions between automated content moderation in academic environments and students’ expectations of privacy in semi-private digital spaces. While FIU maintains that monitoring is limited to groups officially affiliated with university activities and conducted to prevent harm, civil liberties advocates argue that such surveillance risks chilling lawful speech, particularly when context and tone are lost in algorithmic analysis.

WhatsApp, which provides end-to-end encryption for messages, does not share message content with third parties, including universities or law enforcement, unless compelled by legal process. In this case, FIU accessed the message through its own monitoring of the group, which it says was permitted under the group’s stated purpose as an academic forum and the university’s acceptable use policy, which students agree to upon enrollment.

The university has not disabled monitoring in the group following the incident but has announced plans to review its keyword triggers to reduce false positives involving non-violent idioms, sarcasm, or multilingual wordplay. A committee comprising faculty, students, and IT staff is expected to issue recommendations by June 2026.

Saldana is scheduled to appear in Miami-Dade County Court on May 10, 2026, for arraignment. If convicted, she faces up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $1,000, though prosecutors have indicated they may consider a pretrial diversion program given her lack of prior record and the apparent absence of malicious intent.

The case has drawn attention from digital rights organizations, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Access Now, which have urged FIU to clarify the scope and oversight of its student communication monitoring practices. As of April 20, 2026, the university has not responded to requests for comment on whether the monitoring system will be adjusted in light of the incident.