RAMALLAH: Palestinian activists contended Facebook and other social media platforms have censored criticism of Israel in response to government pressure and launched a campaign seeking to halt the activity.
Palestinians have complained that political posts were removed or demoted especially by Facebook and Instagram, which Facebook owns.
The 7amleh digital rights organization launched a website called 7or on Monday to call attention to its position, saying it has documented 746 rights violations in 2021 so far.
“We see it as a war on the Palestinian narrative, as an attempt to silence them speaking about their oppression and suffering,” said 7amleh founder Nadim Nashif.
Facebook responded to a request for comment by referring to the work of its independent Oversight Board. The board called in September for moderation of Arabic and Hebrew content to be reviewed for potential bias. The company said it would implement recommendations from that review.
During a May war between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz urged Facebook executives to be more proactive in removing content from “extremists elements that are seeking to do damage to our country.”
Internal Facebook documents seen by Reuters showed that staff members expressed concern over demotion of posts by Palestinian activist and writer Mohammed El-Kurd.
El-Kurd said views of his posts on Instagram, where he has 744,000 followers, decreased dramatically during Palestinian protests in May in Sheikh Jarrah, a Jerusalem neighborhood where Palestinians are at risk of losing their homes to Jewish settlers.
“I have suspected this baseless silencing of my account for a long time,” El-Kurd said. “The Israeli government is clearly threatened by Palestinian voices.”
Social media user Tala Ghannam said her posts have been removed from Facebook and Instagram for violating community guidelines, especially those tagged “#SaveSheikhJarrah” in support of Palestinian families at risk of eviction.
“I felt at that moment that I don’t have the right to freedom of opinion and expression,” Ghannam said.
Digital rights activists accuse Facebook of anti-Palestinian bias
https://arab.news/55h38
Digital rights activists accuse Facebook of anti-Palestinian bias
- Palestinian activist accuses Facebook and other social media platforms of censoring criticism of Israel
- Palestinians have complained that political posts were removed or demoted especially by Facebook and Instagram
Lebanon’s official media scale back Hezbollah coverage after Cabinet ban
- Information Minister Paul Morcos instructs outlets to comply with government decision
- Journalists, social media urged to avoid content that could provoke hate speech, incitement
BEIRUT: Lebanon has begun implementing a Cabinet decision taken earlier this month to ban Hezbollah’s security and military activities by scaling back coverage of the group on official media platforms.
The measure, which was described in political circles as a significant and bold step, came after decades during which news about the party and the speeches of its leaders were published verbatim and broadcast live through official media outlets, like the state-run National News Agency, TV station Tele Liban and Radio Lebanon.
“No one is imposing censorship,” an official source told Arab News.
“Rather, there is a commitment to the decisions of the state. It is no longer possible for a speech that attacks the Lebanese government and the state to be published through its official media outlets.”
Information Minister Paul Morcos issued a circular instructing directors of official media outlets to comply with the government’s decision to ban the broadcast of speeches or statements by Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem and statements issued by the group’s armed wing, particularly when they contain criticism of the state.
Morcos also ordered that Hezbollah statements be handled in the same manner as those issued by other political parties, meaning they should not be published verbatim. He further instructed media outlets to avoid using the term “Islamic resistance,” except when it appears directly within Hezbollah statements.
The first manifestations of the decision were Tele Liban’s abstention from live broadcasting a speech by Qassem and a statement made on Tuesday by lawmaker Mohammed Raad, who heads the Hezbollah parliamentary bloc.
The group’s supporters described the move as an attempt “to restrict the resistance, Hezbollah and its leadership in the official media.”
Some argued on social media that preventing the use of terms like “resistance” or “holy warriors (Mujahedin)” and replacing them with expressions such as “Hezbollah” and “fighters” was “aimed at brainwashing and stripping the party of its resistance identity.”
During a Cabinet session on Thursday, Morcos raised the issue of content circulating on social media that incites murder and sectarian strife. This comes against the backdrop of the war that Hezbollah waged from Lebanon against Israel on March 2, without state approval, which led to a sharp division in Lebanese public opinion.
Morcos, who is also Cabinet spokesperson, said after the session that what was being published “exceeds the bounds of freedom of opinion, the press and expression.”
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam considered it to fall under the penal code, specifically regarding crimes that harm national unity, he said, and that “we are against strife in all its forms.”
Morcos also urged journalists, influencers and social media users to remain aware of the sensitivity of the current situation and to avoid content that could provoke strife, hate speech or incitement.
He acknowledged, however, that, according to a legal study, he has no authority over social media, even on media-related matters.
“The Ministry of Information does not exercise a guardianship role and lacks judicial police powers,” he said.
“These authorities rest with the public prosecution offices, which are overseen by the minister of justice and fall within the domain of criminal law and criminal prosecution.”
The ban was agreed during a Cabinet session on March 2, after Hezbollah launched six rockets from Lebanese territory toward northern Israel, the first such attack since the November 2024 ceasefire, prompting retaliatory strikes.
The Cabinet reaffirmed that “the decision of war and peace rests exclusively with the Lebanese state and its constitutional institutions,” and called on Hezbollah to hand over its weapons to the state while limiting its role to political activity within the legal and constitutional framework.
