LONDON: Around 200 Facebook employees signed an open letter last week urging the platform to address mounting criticism that it was censoring Palestinian content and suppressing pro-Palestinian voices.
The letter demanded that Facebook take measures to guarantee the equal treatment of pro-Palestinian content and ensure that such posts are not unfairly taken down or pushed lower in the feed.
It said: “As highlighted by employees, the press and members of Congress, and as reflected in our declining app store rating, our users and community at large feel that we are falling short on our promise to protect open expression around the situation in Palestine.
We believe Facebook can and should do more to understand our users and work on rebuilding their trust.”
During the violence in Gaza and elsewhere in Palestine, an overwhelming number of Palestinian-related posts were censored by social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Activists took to social media to spread awareness on what was happening in Palestine and found that their posts being taken down and their accounts deactivated.
Last Sunday, Facebook was the target of a coordinated social media campaign launched by pro-Palestine activists in an attempt to push down the Facebook app’s ranking on Apple’s App Store and Android’s Google Play.
Launched in response to Facebook’s censorship of content supporting and promoting Palestine-related news, the campaign was successful in bringing down the platform’s rating to 1.9 stars on the App Store.
Meanwhile, after facing mounting accusations of censoring Palestinian content, Instagram announced on Monday that it would be making changes to the way it displays content.
Facebook employees call for change in relation to Palestinian content
https://arab.news/bb5pk
Facebook employees call for change in relation to Palestinian content
- During the violence in Gaza, an overwhelming number of Palestinian-related posts were censored by social media platforms
- Activists who took to social media to spread awareness found that their posts being taken down
Paris exhibition marks 200 years of Le Figaro and the enduring power of the press
- The exhibition celebrated the bicentennial of Le Figaro, offering visitors a rare opportunity to step inside the newspaper’s vast historical archive
PARIS: One of France’s most influential newspapers marked a major milestone this month with a landmark exhibition beneath the soaring glass nave of the Grand Palais, tracing two centuries of journalism, literature and political debate.
Titled 1826–2026: 200 years of freedom, the exhibition celebrated the bicentennial of Le Figaro, offering visitors a rare opportunity to step inside the newspaper’s vast historical archive. Held over three days in mid-January, the free exhibition drew large crowds eager to explore how the title has both chronicled and shaped modern French history.
More than 300 original items were displayed, including historic front pages, photographs, illustrations and handwritten manuscripts. Together, they charted Le Figaro’s evolution from a 19th-century satirical publication into a leading national daily, reflecting eras of revolution, war, cultural change and technological disruption.
The exhibition unfolded across a series of thematic spaces, guiding visitors through defining moments in the paper’s past — from its literary golden age to its role in political debate and its transition into the digital era. Particular attention was paid to the newspaper’s long association with prominent writers and intellectuals, underscoring the close relationship between journalism and cultural life in France.
Beyond the displays, the program extended into live journalism. Public editorial meetings, panel discussions and film screenings invited audiences to engage directly with editors, writers and media figures, turning the exhibition into a forum for debate about the future of the press and freedom of expression.
Hosted at the Grand Palais, the setting itself reinforced the exhibition’s ambition: to place journalism firmly within the country’s cultural heritage. While the exhibition has now concluded, the bicentennial celebrations continue through special publications and broadcasts, reaffirming Le Figaro’s place in France’s public life — and the enduring relevance of a free and questioning press in an age of rapid change.
